


Dragonlove

by RaeDMagdon



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey, Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Doggy Style, F/F, Fingering, First Time, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Flight, Mating Rituals, Mystery, Oral Sex, Outdoor Sex, Pining, Polyamory, Pregnancy Kink, Psychic Bond, Smut, Thriller, Virginity Kink, Wynonna/Doc/Dolls, aheh, bronzerider Nicole, co-weyrleader Doc, goldrider Waverly, if sex scenes with a phallus make you uncomfortable I recommend reading other stories of mine, lil bit of pregnancy kink, nicole has a penis, oblivious lesbians, or is it dragon style???, weyrleader Dolls, weyrwoman Wynonna, you can interpret Nicole however you want but I don't really get into gender identity with this AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-03-30 22:36:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13961523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeDMagdon/pseuds/RaeDMagdon
Summary: Waverly is junior weyrwoman at Purgatory Weyr. Her queen dragon, Tiath, is about to rise for her first mating flight. Nicole is the loyal bronzerider who's been in love with Waverly for years. She and her dragon, Calamith, have trained tirelessly with one goal in mind: to fly Tiath and win Waverly's heart.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The Wayhaught DRoP AU one (1) person asked for and I got obsessed with. If you don't know much about Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern universe, you should still be able to follow along with the story.
> 
> The gist is that humans coexist with dragons on another planet, Pern. They live in places called Weyrs (a lowercase 'weyr' is an individual dragon's hidey-hole). Their main purpose is to fight Thread, a dangerous spore that falls from outer space and devours organic material.
> 
> Dragonriders impress, or bond with, their dragon when it hatches. There are five types of dragons, from smallest to largest: greens (females, sterile - impressed by men and women), blues (males - impressed by men and the occasional woman), browns (males - impressed by men), bronzes (males - impressed by men), and queens/golds (females, fertile - impressed by women). Male dragonriders add contractions to their names, eg. Xavier would become X'vier once he impressed his dragon.
> 
> Of course, I said "fuck that" and made Nicole a female bronzerider, because why should straight couples be the only ones in power? (You have to be a goldrider to be weyrwoman, and a bronzerider to be weyrleader.)
> 
> Nicole also has a penis in this story, although I don't offer an explanation as to why, or delve into her gender much other than that she identifies as female (enough to not use a contraction in her name, even). If that makes you uncomfortable, I have other stories that will probably be more your cup of tea. Be careful, my friends!
> 
> Anyway, thanks for attending my TED Talk on Dragonriders of Pern. Congrats, you now know enough to read the story.

“It’s gonna happen one of these days, Wynonna. You’d best come around to the fact that Waverly and Tiath are…”

Waverly pressed herself flat against the wall outside of Wynonna’s chambers, creeping up to the edge of the door and listening at its crack. She hadn’t come here with the intention of eavesdropping, but then she’d heard J’hon — or “Doc”, as Wynonna always called him — say her name, and… well, the weyrfolk who accused her of sticking her nose in other people’s business weren’t exactly wrong.

 _‘But this time, it is your business,’_ Tiath said inside of Waverly’s head. ‘ _Wynonna and Doc are talking about us.’_

 _‘Not now, Tiath,’_ Waverly grumbled. As much as she adored her beloved gold, Tiath could be quite the handful even for a dragon. The young queen still had a thing or two to learn about staying out of trouble — and she had a bad habit of encouraging Waverly’s own less mature impulses, too.

_‘Rude.’_

Waverly’s brow furrowed in frustration. _‘Shush for a minute, okay? I’m trying to listen.’_ Unfortunately, it was too late. Doc’s voice had fallen into a lower register, and she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

She did, however, hear the much-aggrieved yelp that followed.

“You’ve gotta be flaming kidding me,” Wynonna cried from beyond the door, and Waverly winced as something inside of the room shattered. “Oh, shardit, what the—”

“It’s all right, Wynonna. I’ve got it.”

“Good, because I blame you for this.”

“You blame me for droppin’ your plate? It was in your hands, woman.”

 _“Yes!_ Because you were the one who—”

Waverly took a step back from the door, debating whether to continue listening. Yes, the conversation was technically about her, but it had devolved into more of a lover’s quarrel. Wynonna was always squabbling with J’hon, weyrleader X’vier, or both at the same time. Although Ringeth, J’hon’s unusually enormous brown, and Lizanth, X’vier’s bronze, peacefully took turns flying Wynonna’s Peseth, the three of them always found plenty of other things to bicker about.

“Besides, I’m pregnant _._ You’re supposed to be taking care of me.”

Although she couldn’t see the gesture, Waverly could practically hear Doc roll his eyes. “And how often do you allow me and Dolls to do that, exactly? You’re the one who always says...”

 _‘This is boring,’_ Tiath said, projecting her grumpiness to Waverly in choppy and dissatisfied waves. _‘When are they going to start talking about us again?’_

They didn’t have to wait long.

“You’re trying to change the subject,” Wynonna said. “Tiath’s barely six months old! It’s not time for her to rise yet.”

Waverly’s heart gave a surprised jolt within her chest. So _that_ was what Wynonna and J’hon had been arguing about. Her curiosity receded, and embarrassment rushed in to take its place, filling her cheeks with a heated flush.

“She’s almost a year, Wynonna,” J’hon said. “Time does move forward, even if you’d prefer not to acknowledge it.”

“Seriously? A year? That can’t be… oh.”

Wynonna and J’hon both fell quiet, and Waverly decided it was as good a time as any to make her escape. She slipped away from the closed door and hurried down the hall to her own room, chewing thoughtfully at her lip.

 _‘J’hon is right, you know,’_ Tiath said. _‘I am almost a year old.’_

“I know,” Waverly said aloud. She stopped outside her own chambers, opening the door and entering the private weyr beyond. Passing straight through her living quarters and bedroom, she headed out onto the open ledge where Tiath awaited her arrival. The young queen was bathing in a patch of warm sunshine, and the scales of her upturned belly gleamed a brilliant gold in the afternoon light.

Comfort thrummed through Waverly’s bones as she hurried to greet her dragon. Although she could hear Tiath from anywhere in Purgatory Weyr, their connection was strongest when they were close to each other. She sighed with relief as Tiath stretched toward her, and she rested her forehead against the gold’s rounded nose, scratching lightly beneath the dragon’s chin.

 _‘You don’t have to be frightened,’_ Tiath said. _‘Wynonna worries too much.’_

Although Waverly appreciated the reassurance, it didn’t ease the churning sensation in her gut completely. “She does. And it’s not like we’re weyrlings anymore.”

_‘Then why don’t you want me to rise?’_

With a kiss to Tiath’s nose, Waverly withdrew, walking over to the hollow in the weyr’s stone wall where she kept her dragon’s grooming supplies. She removed one of the scale brushes and set to work, starting with Tiath’s face. “It’s not that I don’t want you to rise. I’m worried about who might fly you.”

_‘You mean Ch’amp and Bigoth.’_

Waverly paused in the midst of brushing Tiath’s elegant jaw, hanging her head in silent admission. She had forced herself to spend time with Ch’amp during the past few months, hoping to find some common ground. He was young, handsome, and close to her own age, and Bigoth was by all accounts a fine bronze specimen.

“I tried, Tiath. I really did. But Ch’amp is just so…” Waverly’s voice trailed off, but Tiath had no trouble supplying an appropriate adjective.

_‘Wherry-brained. Bigoth is little better.’_

“I just want someone who isn’t a moron,” Waverly groaned, abandoning the scale brush and slumping dejectedly against Tiath’s side. “Is that really too much to ask?”

 _‘You don’t have to keep company with the rider of whichever bronze catches me… assuming any of them can.’_ There was a distinct note of smugness in Tiath’s voice, and Waverly allowed herself to take some small comfort in it. Perhaps Tiath wouldn’t find any of the bronzes in residence up to her standards, but when dragons rose to mate, passion overwhelmed all reason.

“I know. But I can’t help hoping…”

Tiath exhaled an amused puff of air through her flared nostrils. _‘You wish for a weyrmate, not a bedfellow. I understand.’_

“Well, my sister has two. Why can’t I find even one?”

 _‘You are jealous of her,’_ Tiath chuckled. _‘Would you like for Ringeth or Lizanth to fly me?’_

“Definitely not,” Waverly said, even though she could tell it wasn’t a serious suggestion on Tiath’s part. The idea of poaching one of her sister’s weyrmates, even for one mating flight, was as distressing as it was embarrassing. “I guess we’ll have to hope that some decent bronzeriders from some of the other weyrs show up.”

_‘I am sure many fine bronzes will come, but will that reassure you? Their riders would still be strangers.’_

“I’d settle for a smart, good looking stranger over Ch’amp or my sister’s weyrmates,” Waverly grumbled. She picked up the brush once more and resumed grooming Tiath, who crooned in approval.

 _‘Do not worry, Waverly,’_ Tiath said. _‘No matter what happens, you will always have me. You are my dearest love.’_

Waverly couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks, Tiath. You’re my dearest love, too.”

***

Nicole lifted her face to the sky, shouting for joy as the brisk evening breeze streamed through her hair. There was nothing she loved more than flying with Calamith at this time of day, chasing the sunset on the edge of the horizon. On the back of her bronze dragon, the whole planet was open to her, and each new star that twinkled at the sky’s dark blue edges was a wish that seemed easily within their reach.

 _‘Faster?’_ Calamith asked within Nicole’s mind. Nicole sent back her agreement, and Calamith pumped his massive wings, folding them closer to his body for a more streamlined shape.

They dove toward the fields below, hitting higher speeds with each heartbeat, until the ground raced to meet them at an alarming pace. Still, they waited. At the last moment, dragon and rider pulled up, swerving out of their freefall and soaring off into the sky.

“You’re incredible,” Nicole said as Calamith resumed a more natural pace. “I’m so proud of you. All our hard work has paid off, huh?”

Calamith preened at the compliment. _‘Do you think I’m ready?’_

Nicole rubbed her palm affectionately along Calamith’s neck. “I don’t just think — I know you’re ready. No bronze here or in Purgatory can outfly you.”

_‘I will catch Tiath for you, Mine. I promise.’_

Tears of love and gratitude welled in Nicole’s eyes. It had taken several awkward and lonely years of trying before she had finally impressed Calamith, but he was more than worth waiting for. All of her failed attempts to impress greens and golds no longer stung when she sat astride her beautiful bronze, the other half of her heart. It was true that women almost never impressed bronzes, but she wouldn’t have traded Calamith for anything.

 _‘It was meant to be,’_ Calamith said, sensing her thoughts. _‘We were destined for each other, and this way, you can have both of your loves.’_

Nicole leaned over to give Calamith a fierce hug. “Thank you,” she mumbled, placing a kiss against his soft, scaly hide. “Let’s go home.”

Calamith obeyed, turning around and heading toward the Weyr. It would have been faster to go Between, but Nicole didn’t begrudge him a few extra minutes to stretch his wings. She was enjoying the ride anyway, and she had nothing else to do this evening, aside from giving Calamith some extra pampering.

When the cliffs came into view, Calamith opened his wings, causing a powerful backdraft that made Nicole shift in her seated position. She held on tight as his feet hit the ground, but the bronze’s landing was as graceful as his flight had been. They had both improved a great deal over the last few months, in no small part thanks to the rigorous training schedule Nicole had set.

“You did great,” she said, giving the back of Calamith’s head a good scratch while she could still reach it.

Calamith crooned in approval before lowering his neck, allowing Nicole to unfasten her riding straps and dismount. She kept one palm braced on the bronze’s shoulder as she regained her balance, and then led him into their weyr, sicking close by his side.

It was already occupied when they arrived. Another big bronze dragon, even larger than Nicole’s own, was splayed on the ridge where Calamith did most of his sleeping. The bronze’s rider stood beside him, and a smile spread across Nicole’s face as she recognized the visitor. “Weyrleader X’vier. This is an honor.”

Calamith bugled a similar greeting to Lizanth, and though Nicole couldn’t hear the other dragon’s response, she could tell from the lazy twitch of Lizanth’s tail that he was in a happy, relaxed mood.

“Nicole.” X’vier stepped toward her, extending his hand, and Nicole clasped it tightly. “Calamith has grown since the last time we saw him.”

Nicole’s wind-chilled cheeks glowed warm with pride. “He has.”

“I’m glad to see it, because Bigoth will give him some stiff competition.”

The meaning behind X’vier’s words made Nicole’s breath catch. “Are you saying…”

“Yes,” X’vier said. “Lizanth senses that Tiath is about to rise. He won’t be chasing her, of course, but you know how bronzes are with golds.”

Nicole did know. She and Calamith felt the inexorable pull of lust whenever a queen from their own weyr rose to mate, and could even sense Peseth’s mating flights all the way from Purgatory. Calamith had never participated, though — there was no point, since Peseth refused to allow any dragons aside from Lizanth and Ringeth to catch her. It was an unusual arrangement, especially considering the fact that Ringeth was a brown, but everyone had eventually come to accept X’vier and J’hon as co-weyrleaders, regardless of which had flown Peseth most recently.

“When?” Nicole asked, trying to hide her eagerness.

“Within the week,” X’vier said. “Will Calamith be ready?”

 _‘I was hatched ready,’_ Calamith said, puffing out his massive chest. _‘I will outfly every bronze on Pern for you, Nicole.’_

“Oh, he’s ready,” Nicole chuckled. “He was only a month old the first time he promised to catch Tiath for me.”

X’vier chuckled. “That’s adorable. You know that Doc and I are rooting for you. We’d love to have you at Purgatory when you win… although it might take Wynonna a little time to get used to the idea.”

Nicole’s heart sank. “Really? But Wynonna and I have always gotten along really well. She invited me to try for every queen egg in Peseth’s clutches before I impressed Calamith.”

“That was before she saw you as just another bronzerider trying to get in bed with her little sister.” X’vier held up his hand before Nicole could protest. _"_ _I_ know that you fell in love with Waverly at first sight, but Wynonna’s got… well, let’s call it a blind spot.”

Lizanth snorted sharply through his nostrils, the draconic version of a laugh.

“Fine,” X’vier amended. “A _big_ blind spot.”

Nicole tried not to let herself feel too disheartened. “Do you think Waverly will be happy to see me, at least?”

“Definitely,” X’vier said. “She asks how you are whenever I mention your name… although I don’t think she realizes Calamith is going to try and fly Tiath.”

“Wait, what?” Nicole asked, unsure whether she’d heard correctly. “Why wouldn’t I? Calamith is just as good as any of the other bronzes in Purgatory.”

X’vier shrugged. “Waverly’s the smartest person I know, but she can be a bit of a dimglow about certain things. I think she assumes you’re interested in men outside of mating flights, so you’ll ask Calamith to fly a green with a male rider to be your weyrmate.”

Nicole nearly choked on air. She had met Waverly years ago, while visiting Purgatory for the first of several attempts at impressing one of Peseth’s eggs. She’d been unsuccessful each time, but her friendship with Waverly had blossomed — as had other, more romantic feelings. She’d _thought_ she had made those feelings clear, but apparently, she hadn’t been blunt enough.

“A male green rider? By the Egg, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I’m sure I’ve told Waverly I preferred women before, unless — oh. _Oh._ ” Her face burned with embarrassment as she realized that, technically, she’d never stated her interest in women, or in Waverly, outright. “I’m the dimglow, X’vier. I thought she knew! When we went on that picnic last year… and the time before that, when we went to hear the Harpers play at the Fort Hold gather…”

X’vier patted her shoulder in sympathy. “Waverly might be a little slow on the uptake, but she’ll be very happy to see you and Calamith show up for Tiath’s first flight.”

“Really?”

“I’m sure.” He turned toward Calamith. “Besides, what queen would be able to resist such a fine beast?”

Nicole cracked a smile. _‘He’s right,’_ she told Calamith. _‘You are a fine beast.’_

Calamith bent down to butt his nose against Nicole’s arm. _‘He’s just flattering us because he wants us to transfer to Purgatory permanently and join his wing.’_

 _‘Maybe. But isn’t that flattering in and of itself?’_ Nicole had to admit, it was nice to be wanted. After trying and failing to impress for a number of years, being sought after was a pleasant change.

It wasn’t until she’d sat with a smallish egg at her own weyr that she had finally succeeded. In addition to being undersized, Calamith’s egg had possessed an unusual color, and everyone had mistakenly assumed it contained a particularly lustrous green. She had been as surprised as the rest of the attendees when a tiny bronze had emerged, the first member of his clutch to hatch. Calamith had made a beeline straight for her without a shred of doubt, and from the very first moment she had gazed into his rainbow-colored eyes, Nicole had known they were meant to be together.

 _‘Just like me and Waverly,’_ Nicole thought, unable to stifle her hopes. _‘At least, assuming she’ll have me…’_

 _‘She and Tiath will have us,’_ Calamith insisted. _‘Together, we’re unstoppable.’_

“Calamith and I are ready,” she said out loud to X’vier.

“I bet you are,” X’vier chuckled. “Lizanth and I will expect you at Purgatory when Tiath rises.”

Nicole could scarcely contain her grin. “We’ll be there, Weyrleader.”

After nodding farewell, X’vier approached Lizanth, who uncurled his great bulk from Calamith’s usual place. The bronze yawned, blinking his iridescent eyes sleepily at Nicole and Calamith before dipping his head in acknowledgment.

X’vier mounted Lizanth’s back, and the two of them took off from the ledge, soaring into the sunset. Their silhouette stood out starkly overtop the orange light before they winked Between, disappearing from view.

Nicole rested her hand against Calamith’s neck, stroking his smooth scales. “I know I said we were ready, but…”

_‘We will train hard the next few days. I will use all my strength to fly Tiath and win Waverly for you.’_

It was about more than winning — Waverly’s feelings couldn’t be won the same way as a queen dragon — but Nicole was tentatively hopeful. If she and Calamith succeeded, perhaps Waverly would finally see her in a new light and understand the depth of her feelings.

* * *

“Waves? Waves, are you in here?”

Waverly winced at the sound of Wynonna’s voice echoing through her weyr. She stretched her arms over her head, rolling her neck from side to side to work out the kinks. _‘That’s what I get for falling asleep out here,’_ she grumbled to Tiath, against whom she’d been dozing before Wynonna’s loud interruption.  
  
Tiath sniffed. _‘I thought you enjoyed my company.’_  
  
_‘I do. But I don’t enjoy stiff shoulders.’_  
  
After a bit more stretching, Waverly clambered to her feet, turning in time to see Wynonna step out of the bedroom and onto Tiath’s ledge. “Hey, babygirl. There you are. Thought you might be asleep.”  
  
“Was.” Waverly stifled a yawn with her hand. “Until _someone_ woke me up.”  
  
Wynonna grinned, looking decidedly unrepentant. “Sorry. So, why are you napping out here? Shouldn’t you be at dinner?”  
  
Waverly rolled her eyes. “With Ch’amp, you mean?”  
  
“Hey, I never said that,” Wynonna protested. “I always said he was a few firestones short of a flame.” She approached Tiath, then glanced at Waverly. “Can I, ladies? Lugging around this huge belly gets kind of tiring.”  
  
Waverly dutifully transmitted the message. _‘Wynonna wants to know if she can lean on you.’_  
  
_‘I’m a queen dragon, not furniture,’_ Tiath said, but she shifted her tail, leaving her side open.  
  
“Go ahead,” Waverly said.  
  
Wynonna slumped against the gold’s massive flank with a grateful sigh. “Thanks.”  
  
Waverly returned to her previous seated position as well. “Why are you here, Wynonna?”  
  
“Can’t I just drop by to say hey to my little sister?”  
  
“Nope. C’mon.”  
  
Wynonna blew a loud puff of air between her lips, making them vibrate. “Fine. Doc and I, um… had a conversation.”  
  
“About me,” Waverly said.  
  
“Waverly Earp! You were eavesdropping.” Wynonna shot Waverly a narrow-eyed glare, and Waverly’s cheeks flushed.  
  
“Was not. You were shouting. I couldn’t help but hear.”  
  
Wynonna had the decency to look guilty. “How much did you hear, exactly?”

“Enough.” Waverly gnawed her lower lip, wavering between embarrassment and nervousness. Part of her wanted to confess her fears to her sister, but another, equally powerful part of her was afraid to discuss them. Actually _talking_ about them with someone other than Tiath would make them real, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready.

“Waves?” Wynonna scooted closer, bumping her shoulder into Waverly’s and offering her a soft-eyed look. “It’s gonna be okay, you know.”

Waverly sighed. “Yeah, I know. I just…”

“You’re nervous,” Wynonna said, picking up when Waverly’s voice trailed off. “I get it. But you aren’t stuck with whoever Tiath picks, okay? Mating flights can be a one-time thing, unless you decide you want something more.”

“What if I don’t want a one-time thing?” Waverly whispered, swallowing around a lump in her throat. “What if I want something more? Something like what you and X’vier and J’hon have?”

Wynonna tipped her head back and laughed. “Those two assholes? Babygirl, I love them, but I learned how to ride long before I impressed a dragon, if you know what I mean.”

Waverly forced out a chuckle of her own. “I didn’t think you’d be so calm about this. Or so easy to talk to. You sounded kind of… overprotective earlier.”

“I might’ve been,” Wynonna said, “but Doc talked some sense into me. He reminded me I’ve never let any man, dragonrider or otherwise, change who I am. And no man, not even him and X’vier, can change the course of my river unless I flaming well want to change it myself. If he can see that in me, I sure as shit see it in you.”

“Thanks.” Waverly tipped her head sideways, resting her cheek on Wynonna’s shoulder. “I’m always saying I want to experience everything the world has to offer. I guess that includes things like, um, mating flights.”

Wynonna bent down to kiss the top of Waverly’s head. “It does, babygirl. And hey, if you don’t like any of the bronzeriders here, maybe one of the riders from the other weyrs might catch your eye?”

“I’m not sure about that,” Waverly giggled, but Wynonna didn’t let up.

“C’mon. It could be hot. You know, a studly stranger on a dashing bronze… you’re swept away by passion without even knowing his name. Then the next morning, when you only remember bits and pieces of what happened, he brings you breakfast and _klah_ in bed.”

In spite of her worries, Waverly felt her heart lighten. _Wynonna’s right. I can’t shut myself off to new experiences just because I’m afraid. What if this is my chance to get swept off my feet?_

 _‘It could be,’_ Tiath said. _‘You’re lucky to have an older female relative who comforts you. Peseth still treats me like a hatchling.’_

“She does not,” Waverly said aloud, offended on the other gold’s behalf.

“What?” Wynonna asks. “Y’know, it’s rude to cut me out of the conversation. Just because _you_ can hear other dragons doesn’t mean all of us can.”

“Actually, Tiath agrees with your advice. She was complimenting you.”

Wynonna arched a suspicious eyebrow. “Mmhmm. Well.” With a grunt, she heaved herself back onto her feet, and Waverly hurried to help by supporting her elbow. “I’m going to bed. That’s enough embarrassing sex talk with my sister for one day.”

“Nothing embarrasses you,” Waverly said. Sisterly concern ran both ways, and she couldn’t help worrying a little. “You’re just tired and don’t want to admit it. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Just fat and sore.”

“Any guesses about whose it is?”

“Mine,” Wynonna said, “just like I’ve told you every other time you’ve asked. As for the father, don’t know, don’t particularly care. Doc and Dolls will both be changing diapers either way.”

“They’d better,” Waverly chuckled, “or Auntie Waverly will come after them.”

“Auntie Waverly’d better brush up on her diaper-changing skills, too. Any weyrbrat of mine is gonna be a handful, no question.”

“It runs in the family,” Waverly said. After making sure Wynonna was steady on her feet, she escorted her sister to the weyr entrance. “Get some rest, okay? And don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not worried about you,” Wynonna pointed out. _“You’re_ worried. But you shouldn’t be. Waverly, you’re the finest woman I know. Your dragon rising won’t change that. And you’ll always have me.”

 _‘And me,’_ Tiath added.

Warmth swelled within Waverly’s chest, and she blinked the sting of tears from her eyes. They were happy tears, though — as long as she had Tiath and Wynonna in her corner, and even J’hon and X’vier, she could face just about anything. “You have me too, Wynonna,” she said, leaning in for a hug. “I love you.”

“Love you too, babygirl. Now lemme go. You’re squishing the kid.”

Waverly released Wynonna from the embrace. A thought occurred to her, and her face flushed. “Um…”

Wynonna picked up on her hesitance immediately. “Come on, girl. Spit it out.”

After a gulp, Waverly whispered, “Does it hurt? You know, because of dragon passion and all that?”

To her surprise, Wynonna merely laughed. “I can’t _believe_ I’m saying this to my sister, but… sometimes a little hurt isn’t such a bad thing.” With a wink, she departed, leaving Waverly red-faced and slightly breathless.

 _‘What did she mean?’_ Tiath asked, shifting her bulk to position her head closer to Waverly.

“I don’t know,” Waverly mumbled, “but I guess the two of us are going to find out.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, sinners.
> 
> I'm @raedmagdon on tumblr and twitter.

Nicole woke to the sound of a feral roar and a sharp, stabbing pain within her abdomen. She gasped for air, kicking away the sweaty, soaked tangle of fabric that had once been her bedsheets. Fire raced along her skin, and she struggled to breathe.

“Waverly!”

She wasn’t sure why Waverly’s name came to her lips before any other words, but it spilled out nonetheless, followed by a long groan. Her limbs tensed as the pang in her abdomen moved lower, centering inevitably between her legs.

 _‘Nicole.’_ Calamith’s voice rumbled inside her mind, but the bronze didn’t share her bewilderment. He was alert, agitated. Nicole could sense his emotions as clearly as her own. _‘It is time. Tiath rises.’_

Nicole inhaled, trying to calm her thundering heartbeat, but her efforts remained unhelpful. She was dizzy. Confused. All the blood in her body had rushed straight to the shaft of her cock, which tented the sheets considerably. _‘Tiath. Rise. Waverly.’_

It wasn’t until Calamith sent her a burning picture of a queen dragon in flight that Nicole put the words together into a cohesive thought. She shot out of bed, stumbling over to the closet in search of her riding leathers. Her instincts urged her to _go go go,_ to hop on Calamith’s back and fly far and fast, but she couldn’t very well do that naked, especially in her present condition.

 _‘Hurry,’_ Calamith urged, sounding as anxious as Nicole felt.

 _‘I’m trying.’_ She shoved her foot through her leggings, nearly tripping in the process. It was difficult to tuck her length inside, and the rub of fabric against her sensitive flesh made her hiss in discomfort. Waking with erections was nothing new, but _this_ was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

She finished dressing and stumbled out onto Calamith’s weyr, shirt untucked and the laces of her boots undone. She hadn’t pictured looking like this when she reunited with Waverly, but there was no time for her to primp or prepare. _‘I thought we’d have another day or two, at least.’_

Calamith projected his distress, lowering his neck so Nicole could take her place behind his shoulders. Her fingers shook as she tightened the riding straps to her feet, and she barely finished before Calamith took off, launching off the ledge. He flew into the darkness, streaking across the sky like the blazing tail of a comet.

Nicole held on as best she could. For once, she couldn’t concentrate on flying. _Waverly. Where is Waverly?_ Gritting her teeth, she managed to regain some awareness. _‘Go Between, Calamith,’_ she ordered. It wouldn’t do for her dragon to tire before they even arrived at Purgatory.

Calamith didn’t need telling twice. He winked out of existence, and a shiver raced down Nicole’s spine as the cold nothingness of Between swallowed her whole. It ended abruptly, although her skin erupted with wherry-bumps and her lungs ached long after from lack of air.

Below, Purgatory Weyr was ablaze with light. Large torches burned in welcome near the cliff that marked its entrance, and as Nicole watched, another torch flickered to life. _‘Thank goodness, we’re not too late.’_

Calamith came in for a landing, and Nicole leapt from his back, breathing heavily. There was no sign of Waverly or Tiath, and there were no other bronze dragons or riders in sight either. The only person by the torches was J’hon, one of Wynonna’s two weyrmates, and he looked surprised, although not displeased, to see her.

“Why, Nicole, it is indeed a pleasure, but I am afraid you are a trifle early. Waverly and Tiath are still asleep.”

“What?” Nicole blinked in confusion. Her brain felt like so much sludge, and she could only whimper in the hopes that he would explain himself a bit more simply.

J’hon chuckled. “How do you imagine Ringeth managed to fly Peseth the first time? And keeps managing it? He might be a brown, but when it comes to queens rising, he is more sensitive than any bronze. My boy had a notable a head start.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes at J’hon, peeling her lips back from her teeth. A growl more like a dragon’s than a human’s came from her throat, so fierce that she startled herself and ended up coughing instead.

J’hon’s eyes twinkled with amusement in the torchlight. “Easy now, Nicole. Ringeth is devoted to Peseth. I doubt she would take too kindly to him flying her daughter, and I have no interest in conjugal relations with my weyrmate’s little sister. I would most certainly be dead before dawn if I were to participate in this nonetheless estimable competition.”

Once she understood that J’hon was no threat to her, Nicole relaxed. She found her voice, and the first question on her lips was, “Where’s Waverly?”

“Asleep, as I have already informed you. I highly doubt that you and Calamith will need to wait long. They should be—” A loud shriek pierced the night sky above Purgatory, echoing around the cliff and several miles beyond. “I withdraw what I said before about you being early. It seems you are right on time.”

J’hon’s words proved true. The sound of beating wings washed over Purgatory as a dozen bronze dragons appeared in the sky, popping out of Between and circling down to deposit their riders. Their presence made Nicole bristle with jealousy and aggression, but she fought to maintain control. _‘Go, Calamith,’_ she urged, with a final stroke of her beloved dragon’s neck. _‘Go to the Weyrbowl. Find Tiath.’_

 _‘Tiath.’_ Calamith looked back at Nicole only once, long enough for her to see that his swirling eyes had turned a deep purple, the color of dragon lust. _‘I will win her for you, My Love. I will.’_ He opened his mighty wings, leaping from the cliff’s edge and disappearing into the darkness.

***

_‘Hungry.’_

Gnawing, ravenous hunger consumed Waverly’s being, turning her belly into an empty pit. She stumbled out to Tiath’s weyr in her nightgown, barefoot and trembling, unable to tell whether she felt weak or alive with energy.

_‘Hungry. So hungry.’_

It was difficult to discern where her own thoughts ended and Tiath’s began, but the logical part of Waverly’s brain realized the insatiable need to gorge had not originated within her. Her dragon was the one who needed feeding. She reached across their mental bond, trying to offer reassurance, but didn’t receive any of the familiar feelings of affection she and Tiath usually shared. As they locked eyes, Waverly didn’t recognize her dragon at all. A wild beast had taken control of her beloved queen, and it wanted to devour anything and everything.

“Waverly!”

The sound of Wynonna shouting her name barely tugged at Waverly’s consciousness. She didn’t offer any acknowledgment until Wynonna ran up and grabbed her shoulder. Waverly’s instincts urged her to shake the intrusive hand off. Her flesh burned, and she didn’t want her sister’s touch. Still, the part of her which remained human was frightened and in need of comfort. She whimpered, torn between pulling away and leaning into Wynonna’s embrace.

“Deep breaths, babygirl. Tiath will go for the feeding grounds, and when she does, you _can’t_ let her eat, okay? Do _not_ let her eat, or she won’t fly far enough.”

_‘Not. Eat?’_

The words didn’t make sense — not to Waverly, and especially not to Tiath. She was _hungry._

‘ _Eat. Feed.’_ Tiath spread her wings and took off from the weyrledge, rising swiftly into the sky.

Waverly threw out an arm after her. At first, it felt as though she were flying with Tiath, but she was left abruptly and frustratingly earthbound.

“Peseth!” Wynonna called.

Another great golden shape, even larger than Tiath, rose from the shadows beneath the ledge. Peseth’s humongous head craned above them, her iridescent eyes reflecting every small scrap of light. _‘Waverly, climb onto my back.’_

Ignoring Wynonna had been easy — Waverly had spent most of her life doing so — but something about Peseth’s strong, sure voice demanded that she obey. She staggered to the patient queen, climbing into the crevice behind her neck.

“By the First Egg, I’m glad you can hear other dragons.” Wynonna hurried over, mounting in front and urging Waverly to hold her waist above her belly. “C’mon, beautiful,” she said to Peseth. “Let’s take Waverly to the feeding grounds.”

Peseth sped away from the weyr, not following Tiath, but flashing Between. The nighttime darkness, which had been a deep and inky blue, suddenly became black nothingness. Waverly didn’t have the presence of mind to prepare, and she choked as she inhaled where there was no air.

The shock of cold proved beneficial. Some of Waverly’s self-control returned as they re-appeared over the Weyrbowl, and she felt more like herself. “What else do I need to know?” she asked Wynonna, still breathless.

“Nothing else,” Wynonna said. “Just that if you don’t like the bronzerider you wake up with, I don’t need my dragon to make someone disappear.”

They landed, touching down on the edge of the basin that held Purgatory’s herdbeasts. The animals were already running scared thanks to Tiath, who swooped down and snatched a buck right before their eyes. She retreated to the edge of the valley where Waverly, Wynonna, and Peseth waited, although she kept her distance as she lowered her head to feed.

 _‘No,’_ Waverly commanded, projecting all the strength she could muster.

Tiath puffed out her chest and hissed. She opened her wings, flapping in frustration and causing the grass to flatten around her. After a brief but intense struggle of wills, Waverly emerged victorious. Tiath bent her head, but instead of tearing chunks out of the herdbeast’s flesh, she pierced its jugular.

Waverly shuddered as she tasted the echo of hot, salty blood on her own tongue. Her bond with Tiath had heightened, and she could sense her dragon’s emotions like never before. She too was a fierce and powerful queen, one who would rise above all others and outstrip any bronzes who dared give chase.

Tiath drained her kill quickly. Once it was little more than a husk, she leapt back into flight, seizing another animal from the herd. Once more she tried to eat, and once more Waverly stopped her with a firm, _‘No.’_

 _‘Hungry,’_ Tiath hissed, snapping her enormous jaws.

Waverly refused to be intimidated. Tiath was many times her size, but still her dragon. _‘No. Blood.’_

Reluctantly, Tiath tore out the second herdbeast’s throat and began to drink. As she did, blurry shapes appeared on the horizon, bronzes from Purgatory and all the surrounding Weyrs who had been drawn to the feeding grounds by her call. They too scooped up herdbeasts in their claws, slamming them to the ground in clouds of dust and draining them greedily.

When Tiath rose to grab her third herdbeast, she didn’t need direction. She blooded it without Waverly’s prompting, emptying it in less than a minute. Wynonna reached down to squeeze Waverly’s arm. “Good job, babygirl. Okay, back to the Weyr. Tiath will be fine now.”

Waverly expected some protest to rise inside her at the thought of leaving her dragon, but none came. Tiath was within her, and she was within Tiath. Something as petty and small as distance couldn’t separate them. Already the urge to fly was growing, a fierce longing to seize the sky and leave Purgatory behind, along with the puny bronzes who dared feed in _her_ presence.

Peseth took flight, and Waverly clutched Wynonna as they headed back home. The trip Between took no time at all, and they reappeared over Purgatory, coming in for a swift landing. If Waverly been standing under her own power, her knees would have buckled. Over a dozen bronzeriders stood in a loose semicircle on the edge of the cliff that doubled as the Weyr entrance, waiting for her with keen expectation.

Some of them, Waverly recognized. Ch’amp was there, shirtless of course, wearing a confident smirk as he flexed and posed. Others, she didn’t know. There was a skinny, sandy-haired man, more of a boy really, with hard eyes and a sharply pointed chin. His stare was uncomfortably covetous, and Waverly shivered in spite of herself. Something about him felt… off. Cold. She decided she didn’t like him.

As Waverly avoided the stranger’s gaze, she noticed someone else. Someone whose hair glowed orange in the flickering torchlight. Someone who stood tall, with her shoulders pulled back and her chin held high. Someone who made Waverly’s heart leap even as her mind swam with confusion.

“Nicole?”

* * *

“Waverly!”

Nicole’s every instinct urged her to rush forward and take Waverly in her arms, but a hand grabbed her shoulder, jerking her backward none too gently.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She whirled, snarling with rage. One of the other bronzeriders, a puny stick of a person, had dared to touch her. That was bad enough, but the look in his eyes was worse. It was lustful. Lust directed at Waverly. Waverly, who would be _hers._

_‘Unacceptable.’_

The thought occurred to Nicole and Calamith at the same time. She was no longer alone in her own mind and body. She was Nicole-Calamith, simultaneously woman and dragon. They arched their neck, hissing their fury at the interloper.

“T’cker, Spideth, stop!”

Somewhere in the distance, Nicole-Calamith could hear J’hon’s voice… or was it Ringeth’s warning rumble? The big brown was perched at the edge of the Weyrbowl alongside Lizanth and Peseth, there to make sure their daughter rose for her flight without incident.

“Yeah. What’s _she_ even doing here?”

Nicole-Calamith flexed their finger-claws. Another competitor, Ch’amp-Bigoth, a lazy and lumbering pair. They might be large, but they were no serious threat. Nicole-Calamith tossed their head in disgust, screeching a challenge with bloodied maw opened wide. _‘None of you will outfly us!’_

“You touch her, you’ll probably lose your hand,” said another voice — Weyrleader X’vier. At the Weyrbowl, Lizanth inserted himself into the argument before it could devolve into a three-beast brawl. He did not glow with the radiance of the other bronzes who had blooded their kills, but he was easily half as large again as most of the dragons in attendance, more massive even than fat Bigoth. “Calm down, Ch’amp. T’cker. She’s already gone—”

A second shriek, even louder than Calamith’s, split the sky in two. It was lightning and thunder at the same time, and as the first tinges of pink and orange brightened the edge of the horizon, Tiath tossed aside her final kill. Her golden scales took on an otherworldly glow, turning her into a miniature sunrise all her own.

Nicole-Calamith’s heart thrummed in the cavern of their chest. They trembled, waiting, and the moment Tiath took to the air, they gave chase, launching ahead of all the other bronzes in their eagerness to catch her.

 _‘No!’_ Nicole cried, struggling to pull Calamith back. _‘Pace yourself. Tiath is strong. She’ll fly far.’_

Calamith protested, but eventually, he succumbed. He slowed down, allowing the other bronzes to keep pace. As a group, they chased Tiath’s radiant form, following their guiding star.

Tiath, though small and almost dainty for a queen dragon, was tireless. Her wide wings carried her effortlessly over the countryside, up and up until the only thing beneath her and the bronzes were puffy clouds. Nicole-Calamith felt a surge of triumph as a member of the pack grew tired, breaking off pursuit and spiraling back toward the ground. Fourteen bronzes had become thirteen.

_‘We are strong. We will outfly them all. We will prove that Tiath and Waverly should choose us.’_

Tiath craned her neck backwards over her wing, screeching angrily at her entourage. Her eyes were a swirling blend of reddish purple, visible even from a distance. She shone bright and beautiful, and Nicole-Calamith felt a pang of desire in their very core.

Back on the cliff at Purgatory, Nicole struggled to maintain control. Calamith wanted nothing more than to surge forward and seize his prize, and it took all her effort to hold him back. Sweat broke out across her forehead as she urged him to, _‘Slow. Slow down. Play the long game.’_

Calamith heeded her, although he was mightily unhappy about it. He bristled with agitation as Bigoth, the sluggish beast, flapped past him and took the lead.

 _‘Don’t worry,’_ Nicole soothed. _‘He’s nothing but muscle. You’re fast and clever. You can win.’_

_‘Yes. Win.’_

Calamith snapped at Bigoth’s rear leg, lazily and without much effort. However, he followed Nicole’s instructions, avoiding the angry whip of Bigoth’s tail.

Nicole found herself dodging Ch’amp’s broad shoulder as he shoved his way past her, taking another step toward Waverly. She stood transfixed in the dawn light, her eyes looking toward some distant plane. Her white gown was practically see through, and Nicole swallowed a groan. The swell at the front of her pants grew, and it infuriated her to note that the other bronzeriders around her were in a similar state.

She stepped closer to Waverly, drawn by a power far greater than her own will. None of these unworthy creatures would touch her queen, not if she could stop them. The other riders closed in as well, shutting X’vier, J’hon, and Wynonna out of the circle. Waverly growled at them, taking a step back toward the edge of the cliff. Her nose wrinkled, and she bared her teeth, causing yet another exhausted bronze and rider to give up the chase.

_‘Twelve left.’_

Twelve soon became eleven, and eleven became ten. As the numbers winnowed, Waverly-Tiath allowed herself to be approached. By the time eight remained, Nicole was almost within arm’s reach of Waverly, and Calamith had reclaimed his position near the front of the bronzes. Bigoth was there too, as well as a thin and wiry dragon Nicole-Calamith recognized from their own Weyr.

_‘Spideth.’_

_‘Be careful,’_ Nicole urged. _‘He’s clever.’_

_‘Not as clever as us.’_

Nicole-Calamith aimed their nose downward, diving thirty yards beneath the other bronzes. Several others retreated, overwhelmed by Waverly-Tiath’s speed and stamina, but Nicole-Calamith remained beneath, watching, waiting. Their chance would come, and when it did, they would be ready.

* * *

Waverly-Tiath slowed ever so slightly, adjusting the tilt of her wings and allowing her suitors to gain some precious ground. At first, she had been annoyed by the impudent, rutting bronzes trailing in her wake. How dare they even dream that they were worthy of her, mighty and glorious Tiath, beloved of Waverly and daughter of Senior Queen Peseth? They were fortunate even to be in her presence.

Slowly, however, her resentment and disdain transformed into admiration. Only three of the original fourteen bronzes remained, and they were all fine beasts. Bigoth in particular was large and strong, almost as big as Lizanth. If she allowed him to catch her, surely they would produce a fine, healthy clutch…

_‘No. Please, not him!’_

The plea came from Waverly-Tiath’s human side, but her dragon side heeded the warning. Neither Bigoth nor his rider, Ch’amp, had any brains in their heads. Their flashy muscles were impressive to look at, but a wherry could probably outsmart them.

_‘Our hatchlings must be clever, too, My Love. We deserve nothing less.’_

Casually, Waverly-Tiath considered her other options. Now, Spideth. He was smaller than Bigoth, but there was an aura of wiliness about him. He seemed like the type of bronze who could survive just about anything, and thrive in the most difficult situations.

_‘No. Not him.’_

A wave of revulsion coursed through Waverly-Tiath, causing them both to flinch. Their bond weakened momentarily as Spideth’s rider, T’cker, slid his arm around Waverly’s shoulder, trying to pull her to his chest.

_‘We would make fine eggs.’_

_‘He scares me!’_

Waverly jerked away, snarling in T’cker’s direction, but in spite of her disgust, part of her missed the warmth and weight of his arm. Fire crawled along her flesh, and the whisper of her nightgown’s thin material against her skin was suddenly unbearable. She needed it off off _off._ Needed a hard body atop hers, powerful hands parting her thighs and…

 _‘What about Calamith?’_ Tiath’s voice was an approving purr in Waverly’s head. She could feel her dragon warming to the idea rapidly, and her stomach lurched, not unpleasantly, as Tiath dropped several feet and swiveled her head backwards to get a closer look. _‘He is smart_ and _strong. And his rider is gentle.’_

_‘…I…don’t…know…’_

Calamith noted Tiath’s attention. He craned his neck upwards, and Waverly-Tiath shuddered as she saw the amorous purple color of his eyes.

_‘But…Nicole…friend…?’_

Waverly’s flush became one of embarrassment as well as desire as she realized Nicole was standing eye to eye with her, head bowed so that their lips hovered close. Nicole was kind, brave, and beautiful as well, but Waverly had never considered her as an option before.

 _‘Flaming Eggshells, why_ didn’t _I consider her an option?’_

_‘Why not indeed.’_

Tiath swooped lower, flying directly beside Calamith and allowing her wing to brush his. Waverly clutched Nicole’s arms, holding on for dear life. Nicole was solid and firm, and it was an utter relief to enter her embrace…

Another body pressed against Waverly’s from behind, and she gasped as large hands settled on her waist. Bigoth had joined Calamith on Tiath’s other side, and Ch’amp hadn’t given up either. His fingers dug in above Waverly’s hipbones, and she froze, shaking with a mixture of fear and lust. Ch’amp was the furthest thing from her type, but Tiath’s fever to mate had infected her. If she and Tiath didn’t choose soon, she would settle for the nearest warm body.

 _‘Calamith! Pick Calamith!’_ Waverly cried, but Tiath was beyond her control. She was no longer bonded with a dragon, but with a demon in dragon skin, and it had only one desire. Tiath danced patterns in the air, teasing all three bronzes and keeping just out of their reach.

Ch’amp ripped open the front of Waverly’s nightgown, but it was Nicole’s hand that slid down Waverly’s naked belly and delved between her legs. She whined, draping her arms around Nicole’s neck and shifting her hips forward. She was wet, swollen, aching, and the glide of Nicole’s fingers felt _so_ good.

Hot breath on the side of her neck alerted her to her third and final suitor. Unwilling to be left out, T’cker had squirmed in beside her. His hand cupped her breast as far, far above, Spideth darted forward, putting on a burst of speed and diving at Tiath from above. They collided, and their limbs began to lock.

 _‘No.’_ Waverly tried to turn away, but found that she couldn’t. Her body was no longer under her control. In her helpless state, she couldn’t reject T’cker’s unwanted touch, but she _could_ accept Nicole’s. She squeezed Nicole’s shoulders tighter and pushed purposefully into her hand, coating it liberally with wetness.

_‘Nicole. Calamith. Please.’_

A mighty roar split the air as Calamith surged up from below, ramming into the both of them. While Spideth reeled from the collision and Bigoth stared, utterly confused, Calamith coiled his body tight around Tiath’s. Once they recovered, the other two bronzes buffeted against him, but Calamith held onto his prize with all his strength, refusing to be torn away.

Tiath struggled, but only momentarily. After feeling the resistance of muscle beneath Calamith’s soft bronze hide, she twined her neck with his, accepting and surrendering. Calamith enveloped her with his wings, and they tumbled through the sky together like a falling star, claws finding latch.

Waverly sagged into Nicole’s arms, moaning with relief as she was snatched up and cradled. Ch’amp and T’cker retreated to sulk and lick their wounds, but Waverly hardly noticed. She’d all but forgotten them already. The only person in her entire world was Nicole.

There was a rustle, leather against leather, buttons being unfastened, and then the fingers between Waverly’s legs — those wonderful, blessed fingers — departed, leaving her aching and unsatisfied. Her lips formed a plea, but all that came out was a desperate cry as Nicole’s fingers were replaced by something else, something warm and firm.

Several miles away from Purgatory, Calamith bellowed his triumph to the skies as dawn finally broke.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy! :D This chapter is pretty filthy, but also tooth-rottingly sweet at the end.
> 
> As always, I'm @raedmagdon on tumblr & Twitter.

_Hot. Slick._

Nicole growled, rubbing the tip of her cock against Waverly’s core. Wetness rolled down her shaft, but the slippery coating of warmth couldn’t compare to the silky heat just beyond her reach. She knew because she had felt it with her fingers, and she burned to have it again. To sink inside it. To _possess_ it.

_Ours. Take._

In the distance, Calamith pealed his victory. He had Tiath in his grip, just as Nicole held Waverly in hers, and she surrendered to their shared instincts. She seized Waverly’s waist and bore her to the ground, flipping her onto her stomach.

Waverly made no objections. She moaned and raised her hips in offering, spreading her thighs wide. Nicole bent over Waverly’s back, licking a hungry trail up her spine and biting into her shoulder. Her flesh was the most divine thing Nicole had ever tasted. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she shifted her hold, aligning their pelvises.

And so Nicole-Calamith took Waverly-Tiath, claiming her in a single stroke.

There was resistance. Their queen was tight, untested, and her slickness only did so much to ease passage. But eventually, Waverly-Tiath’s barrier broke, and Nicole-Calamith slid forward to receive their hard-won reward. Tiath screeched, and Waverly wailed, trembling violently beneath the bulk of Nicole’s sweating body.

_Smooth. Tight._

Nicole’s hips stuttered. During many months of daydreaming, she had imagined this moment countless times. Even while overwhelmed by Calamith’s emotions, she understood the significance: she was making love to the woman of her dreams. Only it wasn’t making love. It was mating, fueled by the passion of their dragons.

Though part of her longed to make the experience tender and meaningful, Nicole was incapable of restraint. Her self-control was in shreds, and she couldn’t have stopped for the world. Fortunately, Waverly was uninclined to resist. Pinned face-first against the ground, her range of movement was limited, but she used what little freedom she had to rock backward in search of more.

The welcoming way Waverly arched awakened even more wildness within Nicole. She dug her teeth into Waverly’s shoulder, biting hard enough to bruise. Her length twitched, trapped halfway within Waverly’s velvet walls, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to bury herself to the hilt. Slowly but firmly, she shoved in, grunting as she bumped the end of Waverly’s channel.

_In. First._

Later, Nicole knew, she would feel conflicted about these circumstances. Waverly’s first time should have been candlelight and silk sheets, not some mindless fuck against the ground. But when dragons rose to mate, their riders’ wants and desires became secondary. It was the same for all dragonfolk. There was no fighting nature.

Nicole-Calamith’s nature told them to feel proud. They were _proud_ to have flown Waverly-Tiath, to have caught and claimed such a beauty for their very own — and for the first time, too. After this, there would be no others. They would mate their queen so well that she couldn’t bear to choose another bronze during her next flight.

_Our weyrmate. Ours. Always._

Beneath them, Waverly-Tiath writhed. She was a beast unhinged, greedy for pleasure, and her noises urged Nicole-Calamith to thrust harder. They could not deny their queen’s lust, nor could they deny their own.

Nicole pumped into Waverly with feverish passion, tapping into strength she hadn’t known she possessed. Until she utterly ruined the soft, vulnerable body beneath hers, until she tamed the fierce and marvelous being that thrashed in the cage of her wings, the hungry flame within her would not be quenched.

_But how to tame her?_

Such a task seemed impossible, like catching the sunlight that shone off a queen’s golden scales. Waverly-Tiath was enchanting in her tempestuousness, striking in her savagery. She would not be easily subdued. There was only one way to lay even temporary claim on such a majestic creature.

_Our clutch. She will lay our eggs. Mother our hatchlings._

It was not only eggs, however, that Nicole saw in her mind’s eye. Her own human urges were heightened by Calamith’s draconic lust, and her length pulsed as she imagined Waverly, _her_ Waverly, breasts full and belly swollen with child. The thought was purely selfish, but she indulged it anyway, shortening her thrusts and clutching the tops of Waverly’s thighs for extra leverage. Pressure built swiftly within her, an unbearable fullness that needed release.

_Yes. Fill her. Ours._

***

Waverly shuddered, gripping Nicole’s cock so tightly that colored lights flashed before her eyes. Its girth stretched her walls to their limit, and yet she wanted more. Whenever Nicole withdrew, Waverly whined and squirmed, searching fruitlessly for what she’d lost, but the wonderful fullness returned without fail. Each time it did, she shouted her bliss to the red-tinged sunrise. The need to be taken was overwhelming.

_Hurts. Full. Good!_

High in the sky, Tiath twisted in Calamith’s grasp, slithering her body closer to his. On the ground, Waverly did the same, doing everything she could to press flush against Nicole. No amount of contact was enough. She was skin-hungry, and the harsh rhythm of Nicole’s hips drove her insane.

Despite the stinging pain, or perhaps because of it, Waverly’s entire being vibrated with pleasure. She couldn’t get enough of Nicole’s thickness, nor enough of the thrusts that threatened to drive her beyond the world’s edge. She was flying, or perhaps free-falling, bound only to her mate.

_Mate. Weyrmate._

She and Tiath liked the way that word tasted. Just as Tiath wanted no other but Calamith, Waverly wanted no other but Nicole — or perhaps it was the other way around. Nicole-Calamith was strong. Virile. They had flown high and far for the right to mate and offer their seed. Once it took, she would lay a fine, healthy clutch. Her hatchlings would inherit Nicole-Calamith’s cleverness and determination, traits that made them worthy, perhaps, of winning her more than once.

Waverly-Tiath felt as though _she_ had won as well. She was the lucky queen with the finest bronze on all of Pern inside her, carrying her to heights she had never before reached. Though her human side had possessed some doubts, along with a dose of bewilderment, those feelings were now thoroughly erased. How silly it had been to overlook Nicole all this time! How foolish not to notice that she had found her perfect mate years ago, simply because Nicole was a woman.

And Nicole was most definitely a woman, despite being a bronzerider. Waverly was reminded every time Nicole’s breasts pressed into her back. Nicole’s skin was soft, and there was a delicious coat of feminine padding over her flexing muscles. Even her scent said _‘woman’_ as Waverly drew it into her lungs. Far from being an obstacle, Nicole’s gender added to her irresistibility.

_We chose well. Nicole-Calamith is Ours._

Decision cemented, Waverly-Tiath submitted without reservation. It was a confident form of submission, both bold and fearless, a gift she offered as well as something Nicole-Calamith had seized for themselves. And yet its primal power shook Waverly to her core. She remained helpless as the windcurrents of dragon lust that buffeted her back and forth swelled into a storm.

The fullness within her changed, becoming sharper and more urgent with each of Nicole’s thrusts. _Too rough too big too much yes please moremoremore!_ Something in Waverly pled for mercy, but what form of mercy, she wasn’t sure. She needed… needed…

The answer became clear as Nicole-Calamith surged forward, with force enough to drive the air from Waverly-Tiath’s lungs. Instead of withdrawing, they remained frozen in place. A brassy roar erupted from both bronze and rider, and their shaft throbbed, shooting hot, harsh spurts of seed.

Waverly’s walls went wild, squeezing Nicole’s cock for all it had. She had wanted filling from the moment Calamith had caught Tiath, but the reality was miles better than her imagination’s fevered longings. Her body melted with relief as Nicole spilled inside her, flooding her deepest places and pushing her past the brink.

_Yes. Full. Theirs._

***

Nicole huffed against the nape of Waverly’s sweat-dampened neck, growling in frustration. She needed to pull out in order to thrust, but withdrawing even half an inch was torture. She could only rock into Waverly’s upturned rear, trying to gain more depth where there was none. Streams of come splashed from her cock each time she bumped the end of Waverly’s passage, but did little to relieve the ache.

_More. Fill._

Only when Waverly shook and clenched around her did Nicole find peace. Relief coursed through her entire being, washing away her tension as her weyrmate came with and for her. Waverly’s velvet walls rippled along her length, giving greedy little tugs that coaxed her to empty faster.

Though Nicole remained soul-bonded with Calamith, so closely entwined that she struggled to discern where her body ended and his began, one of her human instincts took over. She brought her hand around Waverly’s hip, rubbing the swollen bud of her clit. Waverly yelped, and the cliffs echoed with Tiath’s shrieks.

_Yes. Come. Around us. For us._

At last, Nicole had no more to give. Her hand fell away, and she slumped onto Waverly’s back, hips still twitching with aftershocks. A new kind of pressure built within her, not between her legs, but inside her chest. It made her dizzy, and a coat of cold sweat broke out across her skin.

 _‘Why are you upset?’_ Calamith wondered. He too had finished, at least for this first round, and with the edge taken off his lust (and Tiath temporarily sated), he expressed confusion and concern.

_‘Because I love her.’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘And we just had sex.’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘So it’s past time to tell Waverly how I feel.’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘Because… I want her to know?’_

_‘You mated. She knows.’_

_‘It doesn’t work that way for humans, Calamith.’_

Nicole sighed into the crook of Waverly’s neck, nuzzling in search of her weyrmate’s comforting scent. At least, she hoped Waverly was her weyrmate. Even the term ‘weyrmate’ could mean many different things, ranging from two strangers who had gotten caught up in the same mating flight to practically married, by Hold standards.

 _What does Waverly want?_ a small, worried voice asked inside of Nicole’s head. Mere moments ago, the strength of a mighty bronze dragon had burned within her. Now, she feared that Waverly might not want the same things she did. _What will I do if Waverly doesn’t feel the same way?_

 _‘She knows you love her,’_ Calamith insisted. _‘She chose you. They chose us.’_

“Wait… Nicole… you… love me?” Waverly’s words came out broken, panted between heavy breaths, but they were still understandable.

Nicole tensed with uncertainty. “How did you—” She cut off her own question as she realized the answer. Waverly was one of the rare few who could hear dragons besides her own. While the four of them were so closely bonded, it was no surprise that she could hear Calamith as well.

 _‘I blame you for this,’_ Nicole thought to him. Being annoyed at her dragon was far less terrifying than thinking about Waverly’s question, or what she should say in response.

 _‘Tell her,’_ Calamith said.

Before Nicole could speak, Waverly shifted off her cock and out from underneath her body, flipping over to face her. Nicole’s lips trembled, but Waverly framed her face with both hands, and the soft touch made her eyes well with tears. She spared a brief glance toward the Weyr entrance, but their audience had left — the other bronzeriders to lick their wounds and find partners among the weyrfolk, and Wynonna, J’hon, and X’vier to offer some privacy. No one else was here to witness her display of emotion. Just Waverly.

“Waverly, I—”

“Nicole, I’ve been so stupid.”

“What?”

Waverly kissed her, a gentle meeting of mouths fueled by something deeper than passion. Nicole soon lost herself in the welcoming warmth of Waverly’s lips. She yearned for this every bit as much as she craved Waverly’s body. More, in fact. Her physical release had been deeply satisfying, but only now did her heart feel full.

Nicole didn’t realize that she and Waverly had started up again until she found herself flat on her back, pinned to the cold stone of the cliff. Waverly hovered above her, gazing into her eyes. Their kisses became a heated string, one which they only broke to breathe, and Nicole shuddered as Waverly’s hand slid down her belly to fist her swelling cock.

High above the Weyr, Tiath made it known that Calamith should continue performing his duty.

_‘Shardit, Calamith! We’re trying to have an important conversation.’_

But the needs of their dragons wouldn’t be denied. As Calamith resumed mating with Tiath, so did she and Waverly. By silent agreement, Waverly lined the tip of Nicole’s cock up with her entrance, and Nicole thrust upwards, sighing with satisfaction as she sank inside.

The only thing better than being wrapped in the shivering silk of Waverly’s walls was kissing her at the same time. The way Waverly sucked her tongue made Nicole greedy, and she cupped Waverly’s backside in both hands, kneading the soft flesh. That caused Waverly to pulse around her, and soon, the two of them found their rhythm again.

As they rocked against each other, Nicole became Nicole-Calamith once more, a being of pure need. While Nicole had fretted over love-confessions, Nicole-Calamith had a single goal: to thrust deeper. She gripped Waverly’s hips, pulling her down with more force. This time, however, a tenuous strand of something — tenderness, perhaps — stretched between them. It wrapped inexorably around Nicole, drawing her closer to Waverly than before, when they had merely shared skin.

_Yes. We love her._

***

Waverly whimpered, letting her chin fall forward and resting her forehead against Nicole’s. Being taken from behind had been wonderful, but riding Nicole made her feel deliciously full. While the position diminished the force of Nicole’s thrusts, it allowed her cock to hit new depths, secret places that made Waverly shudder from the inside out.

 _‘She loves me.’_ The thought should have terrified her, but Waverly felt the opposite. She was exhilarated. Someone kind and caring, a dear friend first and foremost, loved her. After a year of worrying, her wait was over. And Nicole… sweet, steady, dependable Nicole and her bronze still had enough of adventurous streak to satisfy even Tiath’s puckish nature. _‘They’re perfect for us, My Love.’_

_‘Don’t think. Mate.’_

Tiath had a point. It was difficult to ruminate on love and compatibility while Nicole was inside her, battering a certain spot on her front wall that made her see stars. She surrendered to the realm of instinct and emotion once more, savoring the way Nicole’s length twitched inside her.

The twitches became powerful throbs when Waverly adjusted position, rubbing her nipple against Nicole’s lips. They latched on greedily, and Waverly crooned in approval, sifting her fingers through Nicole’s hair. The heat and pressure of Nicole’s mouth made her tremble, and she tightened her hold on Nicole’s head, unable to let go.

Between Nicole’s upward thrusts and the steady swirls of her tongue, Waverly was soon undone. She went rigid in Nicole’s lap, shivering with her second release. Nicole’s flexing abdominal muscles applied shifting, inconsistent pressure to her clit, extending her peak far longer than such a quick build-up should have allowed.

“Waverly…”

Hearing and feeling her name mumbled against her sternum put an open-mouthed smile of joy on Waverly’s face. It spread when Nicole spilled inside her, bucking off the ground for the best possible angle. The intense stretch, followed by a flood of warmth, caused Waverly’s limbs to lock. She keened and came harder, grinning so wide her cheeks hurt.

Once more, Waverly’s thoughts merged with Tiath’s. She imagined her stomach curving under Nicole’s strong hands. She imagined nosing the leathery shell of an egg amidst the dust of the hatching grounds while Calamith’s heavy head rested near her shoulder. She imagined life stirring in her belly, a part of Nicole-Calamith growing within her womb.

A scream tore from Waverly-Tiath’s throat as her yearnings sharpened into piercing need. She bore down on Nicole-Calamith’s cock, milking it for all she could. Their rhythmic spurts were the only thing that granted her anything resembling relief. She wanted _everything_ , every single drop they had to offer.

Waverly didn’t stop coming until Nicole collapsed beneath her. Weariness seeped into her bones, and she curled up on top of Nicole’s chest, pressing a sleepy kiss to her collarbone. Calamith and Tiath, still joined but equally exhausted, spread their wings to catch an air current and rest for a while.

“I do love you,” Nicole said.

The statement was quiet, but assured, and Waverly felt its resonance where her cheek rested on Nicole’s chest. “I wasn’t expecting this, but I think I love you, too.”

Nicole laughed. “X’vier was right.”

“About?”

“You, Waves. He said if Calamith caught Tiath, you’d be surprised, but happy.” There was a long pause. “You are happy, right?”

Waverly scooted further up along Nicole’s body, repositioning so she could see Nicole’s face. “I’m _blissfully_ happy. I just can’t believe I was such a wherry-brain. You were right in front of me all this time, so why didn’t I notice you?”

“I noticed you.” There was something wistful about the way Nicole spoke, and in the loving lines of affection that wrinkled her brow and branched out from the corners of her eyes.

“You did?”

“From the very first time we met.”

Waverly sighed as her mind drifted back in time. “You came to try and impress one of Peseth’s queen eggs.”

“Yeah. We didn’t get picked, so we went to the kitchens, packed a basket of food, and ran away from Purgatory for the night.”

“We talked for hours about how much we wanted to impress our own dragons…”

“About the adventures we wanted to have.”

“We spent the night under the stars,” Waverly recalled, her heart glowing with warmth. “I really was oblivious.”

“Little bit.” Nicole brushed back a stray lock of Waverly’s hair that had fallen between their faces. “It’s okay, though.”

“Nicole?”

“Hmm?”

“Spend tonight in my weyr. Actually, I want you to spend a lot of nights in my weyr.”

Nicole brightened. “Really?”

 _‘Are you two finished talking yet?’_ Tiath asked, her mind-voice gravelly and annoyed.

 _‘Humans need to talk after they mate,’_ Calamith said. _‘My Nicole told me so.’_

_‘Are all riders this much slower than we are, or just ours?’_

Waverly giggled, and Nicole looked at her in confusion. “What did Tiath say?”

“Just confirming how silly I was not to realize about this. Us.” Thinking back, Waverly began to realize that she _had_ noticed Nicole, perhaps more than her subconscious had wanted to admit. She’d assumed the bubbles that tickled her stomach every time Nicole visited Purgatory were simply signs of friendship.

 _‘Do ‘friends’ stare the way you used to?’_ Tiath asked.

_‘You knew all along, didn’t you?’_

_‘Apparently, humans like to take their time.’_

Tiath went silent after that, and Waverly was overcome with another wave of exhaustion. She tucked her chin over Nicole’s shoulder and yawned, letting her body go limp. “Carry me to bed, weyrmate?”

Nicole’s arms wrapped around her, protecting her from the chilly morning air. “On one condition.”

“What?”

“We don’t leave our bed for the rest of the day.”

 _Our bed._ Waverly slid her arms beneath Nicole’s and hugged her tight, preparing to be lifted. _I like the sound of that._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while. I was at ClexaCon, and then I was a potato. :(

Nicole yawned, nuzzling her nose further into Waverly’s soft hair. The warmth of the sun’s rays streaming in through the window beat onto her back, but she was far too comfortable to move. With her elbow hooked around Waverly’s waist and the swell of Waverly’s breast cupped in her hand, she was content right where she was.

“Mmm.” Waverly shifted within the circle of Nicole’s arms. “Should we get out of bed?”

“Nuh-uh.” In hopes that her denial would be accepted, Nicole kissed the nape of Waverly’s neck. It tasted like sweat and sex, and her shaft stirred between her legs. She couldn’t remember how many rounds she and Waverly had gone for, but the beast that lived within her  _ still _ wasn’t sated.

Waverly turned in her embrace, and Nicole was delighted to see that she was smiling. “Why not?”

“You know why not.”

Summoning her strength, Nicole forced her heavy limbs to move. She rolled on top of Waverly, catching her lips in a slow kiss. Calamith and Tiath had finished mating hours ago, but the aftereffects of their passion lingered. During the past day, Nicole hadn’t eaten, had only sipped a few mouthfuls of water, and hadn’t stolen more than a couple minutes of sleep. Waverly was the only thing her body needed.

It was that need which drove her to rub herself against Waverly’s stomach and cup Waverly’s breasts in both hands. They fit perfectly in her palms, and she kneaded them eagerly, not only because they were warm and soft and fun to play with, but because of the noises Waverly made. Those high, needy whimpers drove Nicole wild, and she broke away from Waverly’s mouth to suck the plump peak of her nipple instead.

Waverly threaded her fingers through Nicole’s hair, scratching lightly at her scalp. “Ohh, don’t stop,  _ please _ don’t stop—”

Nicole tugged Waverly’s nipple between her teeth, then switched sides, swirling her tongue around the second puffy bud until it was as swollen as the first. “How did you get to be so beautiful?” she muttered, planting a circle of kisses around the slick nub.

Waverly’s moan became a laugh. “Beautiful? Really? I’m drenched in sweat and all scratched up.”

Nicole released Waverly’s nipple with a pop and leaned back for a better look. It was true. Waverly  _ was _ covered in a gleaming coat of sweat, and her skin was littered with scratches, bitemarks, and finger-shaped bruises. Nicole suspected she was in quite a similar state. Apparently, Waverly was the type of lover who responded to passion with more passion.

“That only makes you more beautiful to me.”

“Because you got me that way?”

“Right. And because I’m gonna keep you that way.”

Waverly arched an eyebrow. “Sweaty and thoroughly satisfied?”   
  
“Sweaty, satisfied, and pregnant.”

A gasp hitched in Waverly’s throat, but it was a pleased reaction. The way she curled both legs around Nicole’s hips and shimmied down on the bed to align their pelvises made that clear. Nicole tried to continue sucking Waverly’s nipples, but her weyrmate was insistent. She soon found herself rubbing her cock against Waverly’s heat instead, eagerly seeking entrance.

“Yesss,” Waverly hissed. She nipped the lobe of Nicole’s ear, tugging with her teeth.

Nicole tensed. The gentle bite, combined with the warmth of Waverly’s breath, had her leaking before she could even get inside. “Yes, you want me to satisfy you? Or yes, you want me to get you pregnant?”

Waverly dug her heels into the backs of Nicole’s thighs. “Both. Right now.”

Nicole sank inside, groaning as Waverly’s walls parted to welcome her. She had never felt anything so smooth and tight, and the ripples that raced along her shaft almost coaxed her into coming early. She managed to restrain herself by biting her lip and breathing slowly, but it was a close call. Maybe she was still sharing some of Calamith’s feelings, but the thought of Waverly carrying her child drove her crazy.

_ Would it be so bad? We’d have a Weyr full of babysitters, and our child could grow up with Wynonna’s. _

_ Waverly probably isn’t serious. It’s the heat of the moment talking. _

But the way Waverly whimpered and clung to her was extremely convincing. Nicole started thrusting, content to lose herself in the fantasy. She had lost count of how many times she’d come inside of Waverly during the fog of Tiath’s mating flight, but she desperately needed to do so again. The swiftly rising pressure within her bordered on unbearable.

“Mmh, Nicole, more.”

Waverly punctuated the demand with a kiss. Her mouth was every bit as addictive as her silky inner walls, and Nicole couldn’t get enough of either. She braced herself on her elbows for better leverage and increased her speed, making sure to hit the special spot that made Waverly whine and claw at her back.

_ “Deeper.” _

Nicole tensed as Waverly gripped her ass, trying to pull her in. It was a fruitless effort. She had already bottomed out, but Waverly’s needy noises encouraged her to keep searching for room that simply wasn’t there. She set her teeth against Waverly’s neck, grunting as she tried to bury the last stubborn inch of her shaft.

Waverly’s demands for more soon devolved into sobs. She came with a powerful shudder, clenching so tight that Nicole couldn’t withdraw despite the ample wetness between their bodies. With Waverly’s hands clutching her backside and Waverly’s legs locked tight around her waist, she was well and truly trapped.

At first, Nicole tried to ride out Waverly’s orgasm. She held her breath, only moving enough to keep up the pressure on Waverly’s clit. But the rapid pulsing of Waverly’s muscles was more than she could bear. She came well before she was ready, thrusting unevenly and releasing a hoarse cry against Waverly’s shoulder.

“Yes, Nicole,  _ yes _ , fill me,  _ yesyesyes!” _

Nicole hardly needed any encouragement. Waverly was already squeezing her so tightly, milking her so hard that her hips couldn’t keep up with the spurts shooting from her cock. She flooded Waverly with everything she had, trembling from head to toe as if her very life were spilling out of her.

***

Waverly dug her fingers into Nicole’s flesh, grasping in desperation. She knew her grip would leave marks, but she was too overwhelmed to care. Nicole felt so wonderful inside her, stretching her to her limit, pumping her full of warmth. But as fantastic as it was, she wanted more. The craving within her wouldn’t be satisfied until she had emptied her weyrmate of every drop.   
  
Only when Nicole sighed and collapsed on top of her did Waverly relax. She nipped and sucked Nicole’s neck, licking away the salt that clung to her skin and pulsing lazily. “Mm. If the other dozen times didn’t do the job, that sure did.”   
  
Nicole’s brows lifted. “What?”   
  
“You know what.”   
  
“You mean you were serious?”   
  
Waverly’s happy glow was interrupted by a twinge of worry. “Serious as threadfall. You weren’t?”   
  
“No!” Nicole’s green eyes flashed with something like fear, and her cheeks flushed pink. “I mean, no, I was serious. I just didn’t think you were.”   
  
Waverly felt a wave of relief, followed by annoyance. “Why wouldn’t I be serious?” Nicole’s gaze darted away. She made to roll sideways, but Waverly squeezed her ass, keeping her in place. “Why wouldn’t I be serious, Nicole?”   
  
“This… us… we’re just so new. A day ago, you didn’t even consider me an option—”   
  
“Probably the dumbest mistake of my life,” Waverly said. “And that was yesterday. Today is today. You’re here, and you’re my weyrmate, and we’ve already been friends for years. I feel safe with you.”   
  
That put a smile back on Nicole’s face. “You do?”   
  
“Always.” Waverly found herself unable to resist Nicole’s adorable grin. She leaned up, kissing the tip of Nicole’s nose. “Besides, I said I wanted to have adventures with you.”   
  
“Yes, but a baby is a pretty big adventure to start with.”

“Wynonna can babysit when we want to have private, two-person adventures.”

Nicole chuckled. “A whole weyr full of babysitters, and you’d pick Wynonna first?”

Waverly’s face screwed up as she tried to decide whether or not to be offended. She always got a pleasant tickle in her chest whenever Nicole teased her, apparently even if it was at Wynonna’s expense too. “Well, she  _ is _ my sister. And she’ll owe me, because we’ll be babysitting for her.”

“We?” Waverly gave Nicole’s shoulder a playful slap, and Nicole broke down giggling. “Kidding. Yes, yes to all of that. Yes to a baby, yes to Wynonna’s baby, yes to all the adventures you want.”

Waverly’s heart grew wings. A giddy sort of weightless washed over her, reminding her of how it felt when Tiath went into a steep dive. She hadn’t bonded with many people in her life — Tiath and Wynonna were pretty much it — but Nicole felt like a part of her now. Yes, it had happened fast, but she didn’t care. Nothing on all of Pern could spoil her happiness.

“You promise?”

“Of course I do, Waves.”

Nicole kissed her again, and Waverly sighed with satisfaction. She doubted she would ever get enough of Nicole’s lips, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying.

***

Several hours later, Nicole finally managed to haul herself out of bed and wash up. The process took longer than usual, partially because she was sore and exhausted, but mostly because Waverly trailed behind her, a pleasant but constant distraction. More than once, Nicole found herself kissing Waverly instead of cleaning up.

Getting dressed wasn’t any easier. As soon as Nicole put on an item of clothing, Waverly tried to strip it off again, seeking access to her skin. Nicole empathized. It was torturous to watch Waverly put on her own clothes, and she itched to rip them away. Still, they had to eat. They’d been holed up in Waverly’s weyr for an entire day.

“One more time,” Waverly mumbled into Nicole’s back, wrapping her in an embrace from behind. “We’ll be quick. Then we can get food.”

Nicole was tempted to give in, especially when Waverly’s hand slid up to palm her breast, but the sound of both their stomachs rumbling convinced her otherwise. “You need to eat.”

“I know exactly what I want to eat,” Waverly drawled.

“Fine, then  _ I _ need to eat. I don’t think I can go for another round until I put something in my stomach. Then, I promise to do whatever you want.”

“Oh?”

Nicole shuddered as Waverly tweaked the tip of her breast. It would have been incredibly easy to surrender, but she mustered her strength and removed Waverly’s wandering hand. “I promise,” she repeated, turning and staring down into Waverly’s eyes.

Waverly seemed to accept the promise. She headed for the door, holding Nicole’s hand tight and tugging her along. Nicole allowed Waverly to lead her out of the weyr and into the hallway, sighing with relief when she noted that it was empty.

During the mating flight, she hadn’t cared whether anyone saw them. Sex, especially sex fueled by the desires of their dragons, was completely natural. Now that their passions had cooled — only ever so slightly, judging by the way her heart pounded in response to Waverly’s nearness — she found herself worrying about Wynonna’s reaction.

Mating flights were all well and good, but she and Waverly had agreed to pursue a more permanent relationship, and Wynonna was a very protective older sister.  _ As far as Wynonna’s concerned, no one will ever be good enough for her Waverly. _

“Once we grab some dinner, we should probably take care of our dragons,” Waverly said, breaking Nicole’s worried train of thought. “They’ll need to eat too.”

Nicole tapped into the ever-present connection she had with Calamith, searching for the threads of her bronze’s emotions. They were quiet and muted, signaling that he was fast asleep. “If they wake up in time. I don’t know about Tiath, but Calamith’s wiped out.”

“Tiath, too.” A sly smirk crossed Waverly’s face. “They did all the same things we did, plus they were flying. No wonder they’re exhausted.”

“No wonder. I’m aching in places I didn’t even know I had.”

“Aww, poor baby. Do you need me to rub you down? Because I could—”

The sound of footsteps grabbed Nicole’s attention. She stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Waverly back and shushing her with a finger to the lips. This part of the weyr wasn’t frequently travelled. It was reserved for Purgatory’s goldriders, and there were currently only two in residence. Rosita was on the southern continent, and Willa was… wherever Willa had disappeared to.

_ That means it has to be Wynonna, J’hon, or X’vier. And I really, really don’t want it to be Wynonna. _

“What’s wrong, silly?” Waverly asked, her voice loud enough to echo through the stone corridor. “You’re acting like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Worse.” Nicole glanced around the passageway, but there wasn’t anywhere to hide. The nearest door was several yards behind them, and the footsteps were approaching from around the corner in front of them. She put on her best smile, squeezing the life out of Waverly’s hand. Waverly had  _ chosen _ her, and she had every right to be here. Wynonna would have to accept and adjust.

But it wasn’t Wynonna who came around the corner. Nicole’s smile fell, and the hairs on the back of her neck bristled as T’cker entered the corridor. Though Tiath’s mating flight was long over, deeply buried instincts rushed to the surface, urging Nicole to view the intruding bronzerider as competition. She dropped Waverly’s hand and wrapped an arm around her waist instead, pulling her close.

“T’cker?” Waverly asked, a note of wariness in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

T’cker fixed his wide-eyed gaze directly on Waverly, and Nicole felt Waverly shift nervously against her side. “Waverly. I’m here for you, of course.”

Nicole’s shoulders stiffened. Anger blossomed in her chest, and she curled her fingers around the edge of Waverly’s shirt, needing something to grip. “What are you talking about?”

The eerie smile on T’cker’s face grew wider. “The mating flight is over. Don’t worry, Waverly, I don’t blame you or Tiath. I know you were going to choose us before Nicole and Calamith cheated.”

“Cheated?” Nicole snapped.

Waverly stroked the small of Nicole’s back, trying to reassure her. “It’s fine, Nicole.” She left Nicole’s embrace, stepping forward to face T’cker. “You’re wrong. I don’t know why you think you were ‘supposed’ to win, but I wanted Nicole. Tiath and I made our choice, and we’re extremely happy with it. I’m sorry.”

T’cker’s smile vanished. His thin face became sharper in the hallway’s low light, and a vein in his temple jumped. “You’re confused,” he said, with a laugh that wasn’t at all friendly. “It must be Tiath’s instincts. They’re lingering. In a few more hours, you’ll see sense.”

Nicole clenched her jaw, biting back the words that threatened to burst through her teeth. Waverly was  _ hers  _ — and moreover, Waverly was Waverly’s. In no possible world did she belong to T’cker, or to anyone she hadn’t chosen to share herself with.

Instead of shouting those things, Nicole placed her hand on Waverly’s shoulder. She had suppressed her jealousy, but such disrespect couldn’t stand. “Waverly is my weyrmate. The only place she’ll be in a few hours is in  _ our _ bed.”

***

Waverly would have been delighted by that pronouncement if rage hadn’t transformed T’cker’s face. He narrowed his eyes, peeling his lips back into a snarl that was almost feral. His gaze darted between them, predatory and calculating.

“You’re wrong,” he repeated, his voice full of venom. “Waverly is mine. She was always meant to be mine. One mating flight doesn’t change that. Next time Tiath rises—”

“Tiath’s next flight will be closed,” Waverly insisted. “She’ll have no other bronze but Calamith, and I’ll have no one but Nicole.” The thought of anyone but Nicole touching her made her skin crawl with revulsion. “You need to leave, T’cker.”

“She isn’t even a real bronzerider, you know.” T’cker gestured with his hands, his simmering anger becoming more of a ferver. “She’s a woman.”

Waverly rolled her eyes. “I’m aware of that.”

“She didn’t even change her name!”

“Nickey is a lovely name for a child, don’t you think?” she said, reaching up to cup Nicole’s cheek with the most aggressive cheerfulness she could muster. “Works for a boy or girl, with or without a contraction.”

T’cker took a step forward and raised a threatening hand. “See sense, Waverly—”

Waverly jerked back as T’cker reached for her, but there was no need. Nicole snatched his wrist in midair. “You will  _ never _ lay a hand on her. Do you understand?” She locked gazes with T’cker, boring her eyes into his with a power that reminded Waverly of thread devouring everything in its path. When T’cker refused to answer, Nicole tightened her grip, and Waverly heard a moan of pain escaped his lips. “I said, do you understand?”

With a burst of strength, T’cker wrenched himself away. The expression on his face was murderous enough to send a chill through Waverly’s bones, but Nicole’s intimidation tactic had worked. “You’ll come to your senses, Waverly,” he said in an uneven whisper. “When you do, I’ll be waiting.”

Without another word, he retreated back the way he had come, slinking around the corridor and disappearing from sight. Although he left, the cold didn’t. Waverly shuddered. T’cker hadn’t touched her, but she felt as though he’d soiled her in some way.

“You know,” Nicole said, with a smile clearly meant to be reassuring, “Nickey is a really nice name.” She had dropped the protective watchwher act, returning to her usual soft, cheerful self, and something about the transformation sparked Waverly’s desire.

_ So fierce when she’s protecting me. So gentle with me. _

Waverly grasped Nicole’s shirt, spinning her around and backing her into the wall. After the briefest check to make sure Nicole’s surprise wouldn’t result in protest, she stood on tiptoe, slamming their lips together. The hunger of the kiss surprised her, even though she’d been the one to start it. Coldness was replaced with heat, and she relaxed as Nicole came out of her stupor, returning the kiss with just as much eagerness.

Waverly happily forgot all about T’cker in favor of Nicole’s lips, and their mouths devoured each other until the need for air forced them apart. 

“What was that for?” Nicole panted. She appeared breathless and confused, but not the least bit unhappy.

“For defending me,” Waverly growled, nipping Nicole’s bottom lip. She’d managed to keep her desire to a low simmer since leaving bed, but their encounter with T’cker had filled her with a strange, vibrating sort of energy. Something about it had reignited the flames. 

Nicole stared at her with what was clearly admiration. “You did a fine job defending yourself.”

“You helped. And…” Waverly slid her hand down Nicole’s stomach, cupping the bulge at the front of her pants. “I’m going to reward you.”

***

Protests rose in Nicole’s mind.  _ What if T’cker’s nearby, watching? What if Wynonna catches us? _ But her worries seemed nebulous and unimportant as Waverly unbuttoned her pants, stroking the growing swell inside her smallclothes with unconcealed eagerness. For more of her weyrmate’s addictive touch, Nicole was willing to risk Wynonna’s wrath. And if T’cker  _ was _ still lurking about…  _ Well, maybe he’ll finally understand that Waverly’s unavailable. _

“What kind of reward do you have in mind?” Nicole asked, her voice breaking slightly.

“The kind I was too desperate to get around to earlier.”

Waverly dropped to her knees, and all the blood in Nicole’s body rushed straight to her cock. It was true that the two of them had been intently focused on ‘mating’, for lack of a better word. Dragons weren’t exactly inventive when it came to their sexual behaviors. But she and Waverly were humans, and humans had much broader palettes — plus much softer mouths.

Nicole throbbed as Waverly fished her out of her pants, holding her shaft in one hand and leaning forward. The heat of Waverly’s breath made Nicole flinch before her weyrmate’s mouth even made contact. She had gone from confused to hypersensitive in a matter of moments, and the mere promise of Waverly’s lips had droplets pearling at her slit.

“I’ve never done this before,” Waverly murmured, with the subtlest possible hint of shyness. Beneath her lashes, however, her eyes were alight with curiosity. “You can give me instructions if you want.”

“You’ll be amazing.” Nicole petted Waverly’s hair, fisting some of the soft strands, but didn’t push or pull, waiting patiently for Waverly to make the decision herself.

Waverly didn’t appear to have any more reservations. She placed a wet, open kiss on Nicole’s tip, and Nicole sucked in a shallow breath, fighting to keep her hips still. Waverly’s mouth was just as warm and gentle as she’d imagined, and even though it was barely brushing her, pressure pounded along her length.

“Please,” Nicole rasped when she noticed that Waverly was gazing up at her, searching her face for some idea of what to do next. “More?”

Waverly descended on her cock, taking the head inside first, then an inch or two of the shaft. Nicole scratched the nails of her left hand against the wall, then brought it to join her right on top of Waverly’s head. She still didn’t push, but she did give Waverly’s hair an approving tug to let her know she was doing well.

_ Very well. By the Egg, I can’t believe she hasn’t done this before! _

The soft, slippery heat of Waverly’s mouth drove Nicole insane. Her head threatened to loll back against the cool stone, but she refused to look away. Waverly was so beautiful with her hair hanging loose, framing her flushed pink cheeks. They were slightly swollen with the shape of Nicole’s cock, and Nicole brought the fingers of one hand down in a caress to feel for herself. Waverly’s face glowed with pride, and the two of them shared a silent moment of connection.

Rather than ending, the intensity grew as Waverly went to work in earnest. Having gotten her bearings, she squeezed the bottom of Nicole’s shaft with her hand and bobbed over the top, swirling her tongue near the tip. Nicole lost the battle to keep watching. She slumped against the wall, groaning in surprise and approval. She hadn’t expected this much enthusiasm, and Waverly’s mouth was  _ so _ hot and slick…

That made it all the more frustrating each time Waverly withdrew. It left a good portion of Nicole’s shaft chilly and covered in wetness, and she soon forgot her efforts to be gentle. If Waverly wouldn’t let her stay where it was warm and soft, she would take those things for herself. She tightened her grip on Waverly’s head and held it in place, pushing forward until she nudged the back of Waverly’s throat.

Waverly mewled, but didn’t object. She swiped along the underside of Nicole’s shaft, increasing her suction, and Nicole shuddered from head to toe. She was somewhat ashamed to admit it, but the sight of such a glorious creature as Waverly, a strong and proud goldrider, on her knees with a cock threatening to slide down her throat, was arousing enough to make Nicole’s core cramp with need.

_ Not just any cock. My cock. _

She took another stroke, then another, until she was pumping in and out of Waverly’s mouth at a steady pace. Waverly retained some control with the help of her hand, squeezing to prevent Nicole from pushing too far or fast. The squeezes themselves were pleasurable, though, and Nicole was highly aware of how her shaft jumped each time Waverly’s tongue flicked the tip.

As wonderful as Waverly’s tongue was, it couldn’t compare to her throat. The next time Nicole pushed forward, she slid much further than expected. Waverly’s hand had fallen away, and there was nothing to impede her progress as she sank into a tunnel of tight silk. Waverly made a choking noise, but when Nicole tried to withdraw, two insistent hands gripped her backside, refusing to let her go.

Looking into Waverly’s eyes was Nicole’s undoing. They were watery, but also full of hope, and although Waverly was the one servicing her, Nicole could only describe her peak as a surrender. She came down Waverly’s throat, not because she couldn’t hold back the pressure any longer, but because Waverly obviously longed for it — enough to demand every drop she had without saying a word.

***

It was difficult to keep up with the flood at first. Waverly did her best to swallow, but Nicole’s thick cock made the muscles of her throat burn, and her reflexive gagging caused a little of Nicole’s come to sting the inside of her nose. She kept going anyway, determined to see it through. Maybe she’d pushed herself too much, considering it was her first time, but the look on Nicole’s face was rapturous. She whispered only one word, “Waverly,” and hearing Nicole say her name was more than worth any discomfort.

It was only then that Waverly realized she’d forgotten to breathe. She pulled back, gasping like she’d just popped out of Between, but it proved to be a very pleasant mistake. Nicole’s come spilled over her lips and tongue, and the taste of salt filled her mouth. After a few choked, sputtering breaths, Waverly wrapped her lips around the tip of Nicole’s cock, sucking greedily after each spurt. The taste was heavy, almost too strong, but the more Waverly had, the more she craved. It was Nicole’s come, after all, and that meant something.

“Waverly, are you okay? Uhh…”

Waverly did her best to forestall her weyrmate’s concerns, coaxing a few more pulses from Nicole’s twitching cock. It saddened her to feel them weakening, but the satisfied sigh Nicole heaved told her that she’d done her job well. She released Nicole’s softening shaft and beamed with pride, wiping her mouth with her hand.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Nicole said, shaking her head in bewilderment.

Waverly tucked Nicole’s length back into her pants — after kissing it goodbye, of course. “The thought crossed my mind, and I… well, I went for it.”

“You sure did.” Nicole extended her hand, and Waverly accepted it, clambering to her feet. She found that she missed Nicole’s smell, although she very much appreciated the grateful kiss Nicole planted on her lips. It turned deep and wet, and Waverly trembled as she realized Nicole was tasting herself.

“Maybe your next adventure shouldn’t involve so much choking,” Nicole teased, placing her hands on Waverly’s hips.

Waverly rested her head on Nicole’s shoulder. The crook of Nicole’s neck was her new favorite refuge, and she nuzzled as close as she could, enjoying the throb of Nicole’s heartbeat near her ear. “Maybe I wanted to prove I belong to you.”

“We belong to each other,” Nicole said. Although Waverly kept her eyes closed, she could picture the concern on Nicole’s face. Her weyrmate knew exactly where her impulses were coming from.

A sharp pain in her belly reminded Waverly why she and Nicole had ventured into the hallway to begin with. She groaned in annoyance, but as delicious as Nicole had tasted, she needed something more substantial on her stomach. The past several minutes had left her uncomfortably weak.

“Need food,” she mumbled. “Come with?”

Nicole rubbed a comforting circle onto her back. “I wouldn’t let you go alone.”

“Wouldn’t let her go where alone?”

Waverly just about jumped out of her skin as a voice other than Nicole’s filled the hallway. She jerked back, whirling around to see Wynonna standing further down the hall. Her hair was in a shameful state, and she wore one of J’hon’s shirts without any pants underneath. Judging by her gait, which had more waddle in it than her pregnancy could account for, Waverly suspected Wynonna had enjoyed the psychic effects of Tiath’s mating flight almost as much as she and Nicole had.

“Enjoy your afternoon nap?” Waverly asked, unable to conceal her smirk.

“Hey,  _ I’m _ the one who caught  _ you _ fooling around in the hallway. You’re the one who should be embarrassed here.”

“Hi, Wynonna,” Nicole said, with a sheepish smile and wave.

Waverly put her hands on her hips. “You didn’t catch us.”

“I would’ve if I’d gotten here a minute sooner.”

“But you didn’t,” Waverly pointed out, “obviously because you were  _ busy.” _

“So were you, judging by the come in your hair.”

Waverly’s cheeks burned. She ran her fingers through her hair, cursing herself for not taking the time to put it in its usual braid, until Wynonna started cackling. “Ha! Gotcha.”

“You’re such an asshole, Wynonna.”

A short distance away, Nicole cleared her throat. “Does this mean you aren’t going to kill me and Calamith for flying Tiath?”

Wynonna leveled Nicole with a stare, one that managed to be impressively intimidating despite her massive size and the hickeys on her neck. “If my baby sister has even one complaint, you’ll be flying out of Purgatory without your dragon, courtesy of my boot to your backside. But she looks like a sunrise right now, so you’re safe. For the time being.”

“No complaints,” Waverly said, taking Nicole’s hand in hers. “And you’d better get used to seeing her around, Wynonna, because she’s staying permanently.”

Wynonna looked the opposite of surprised. “That’s what X’vier said would happen.”

“You mean you and he actually had time to talk today?” Waverly said.

“Not much. I kept his mouth pretty busy.”

Waverly shook her head and held up the hand that wasn’t holding Nicole’s. “I don’t need all the dirty details. Nicole and I are getting dinner. You want some?”

“Need some,” Wynonna said. “Baby’s hungry.”

“Are you going to bring some back for X’vier and J’hon?” Nicole asked.

Wynonna snorted. “Maybe. And I guess I can’t blame them for being too tired to move. You two sent the whole Weyr into a tizzy. Let’s hope a few of the cooks actually made it back to the kitchens.”

Waverly smiled, more proud than embarrassed. She’d spent the past few years suffering through hours-long masturbation sessions whenever Peseth rose for Ringeth and Lizanth, so it was about time she got some revenge.  _ Well, no more of that now that Nicole’s here. I’ll have all the help I need. _

Despite that pleasant thought, Waverly’s chipper mood faded as she, Nicole, and Wynonna continued down the hall together. She still hadn’t told her sister about T’cker, and wasn’t sure if she should. The situation had been handled, and Wynonna did have a tendency to overreact about certain things. Her eyes slid sideways, meeting Nicole’s, and the two of them made a silent pact.

_ I won’t tell, _ Nicole said with a squeeze of her hand.

Waverly replied with a slow blink of thanks. So many amazing things had happened today, and she refused to let one unwelcome bronzerider darken it. Just looking at Nicole brought on a flood of golden afternoon memories, and she focused on those instead. It felt right. With Nicole by her side, everything had finally fallen into place.


	5. Chapter 5

**** Waverly ran a hand through her hair, brushing the sweaty strands that had escaped her braid away from her forehead. The afternoon was hot and dry, but she remained outside, seeking shade beneath one of the tall rocks that ringed the hatching grounds. She longed for the coolness of the weyr’s stone corridors, but anxiety demanded she keep her vigil.

Three months and five days had passed since Tiath had risen to mate, but she had not yet clutched. She was overdue by nearly a week.

The weyrfolk had begun whispering.  _ Tiath isn’t growing, _ they said.  _ She isn’t nesting. She isn’t feeding enough. _ Never before had anyone paid such close attention to her dragon, and the knowledge that every pair of eyes in the weyr was watching only worsened Waverly’s nerves.

Only a short while ago, her life had seemed to be heading in a wonderful direction. And it  _ had _ been wonderful, for the most part. Nicole had shown herself to be the sweetest, kindest, most attentive weyrmate Waverly could have asked for. Tiath and Calamith had formed their own intimate bond, and had taken to sharing a weyr along with their riders, despite most dragons’ instinctive desire for personal space.

Wynonna’s child had finally been born, with her mother’s bright eyes and a big, toothless grin that melted Waverly’s heart every time it appeared. She didn’t see the baby nearly as much as she would have liked, though, because X’vier and J’hon scarcely let the precocious weyrbrat out of their sight. They still squabbled as usual, but mostly over who had been monopolizing Alice — Wynonna’s firm choice for a name, despite the fact that it wasn’t a traditional portmanteau.

(“What am I supposed to call her?” Wynonna had said. “Wynjoxvier? Jhoxavna? I don’t need to give my kid an extra reasons to hate me before she can even talk.”)

Everything should have been perfect. Only it wasn’t. Tiath was overdue, and her own subtly rounding belly made things even more complicated.

_ ‘Go inside,’ _ Tiath said within Waverly’s head.  _ ‘Take a nap.’ _ The great golden dragon had stretched herself across the sand in order to soak up the sun, with Calamith keeping close watch beside her. Her iridescent eyes were closed, but Waverly could tell she was not at peace.

“I’ll stay here.” Despite the heat, and her ever-present anxiety, Waverly couldn’t bear the thought of being parted from her dragon.

_ ‘Nicole worries for you,’ _ Calamith said. The bronze had curled his slightly smaller body around Tiath’s in order to rest his head on her side, a side which should have been swollen with eggs about to be laid. Sadly, Tiath’s figure was as lean and trim as ever.

“Nicole can have her turn watching later,” Waverly said.

_ ‘She is ashamed,’ _ Calamith rumbled, in a tone that made Waverly suspect he was speaking more about himself than his rider.

“Neither you nor Nicole has anything to be ashamed about, Calamith. Nothing’s wrong—”

_ ‘We know the truth, my love,’ _ Tiath said.  _ ‘There is no life in my belly. I will not clutch this time.’ _

Calamith’s heavy-lidded eyes swirled the cloudy grey color of grief. Dragons did not cry as humans did, but his pain was obvious on his face.  _ ‘This is my fault. My seed didn’t take root.’ _

Tiath twined her neck with his, attempting to offer comfort.  _ ‘No, Calamith. Not your fault. We will try again. I will have no other bronze but you.’ _

Tears pricked Waverly’s eyes. She felt Tiath’s longing as keenly as if it were her own, and it was enough to leave her breathless. Her dragon was heartbroken, mourning the loss of the clutch she hadn’t even laid.

“Waves?”

Waverly looked up. A familiar  smear of peach capped with red stood beside her, and she managed a weak smile as she wiped her watery eyes. “Nicole?”

Nicole sat down, opening her arms, and Waverly collapsed into them. She buried her face in Nicole’s shirt, holding tight to her neck. “It’s okay,” Nicole murmured, but her own voice was thick and raspy with unshed tears. Waverly didn’t need a psychic bond to know that her weyrmate was every bit as devastated as she and their dragons were.

“I… I just…” Waverly swallowed several times before she managed to stifle her sobs. “I don’t care what the weyrfolk say. I want Tiath to be  _ happy.” _ Tiath was her dragon, her heart, her everything. Her beloved queen’s loss was her loss as well, and there was nothing she could do to soothe it.

“I know, I know.” That was all Nicole said — just  _ ‘I know’ _ — until she started crying as well, ducking her head and letting her tears fall onto Waverly’s hair.

They clung to each other fiercely for a while, but it wasn’t enough. Waverly stood first, and she offered Nicole her hand, heart squeezing as she noted the tear-tracks on Nicole’s pale cheeks. Together, they left the ring of rocks and stepped onto the hatching grounds. Ignoring the burn of hot sand under their feet, they found refuge against Tiath’s underbelly, beneath the shade of Calamith’s wedge-shaped head.

Waverly wept the rest of her tears, or perhaps they were Tiath’s tears finding release through her, into her dragon’s soft, leathery hide. Nicole remained by her side, scratching Calamith’s bony eye ridges in the way he liked best. The four of them pieced themselves back together, two humans and two dragons linked by shared anguish.

Nicole broke the silence first. “This is enough,” she said, stroking Calamith’s nose with one hand and placing the other on Waverly’s abdomen. “We’re enough for each other. Right?”

Waverly wasn’t sure whether to flinch at those words or take comfort in them. How was it fair that she should get to experience the joy of bringing a new life into the world when her dragon couldn’t? But Tiath sent her a mental caress, a gesture of powerful, untainted love. Not for the first time, Waverly thought that dragons were far nobler than humans. If their situations had been reversed, she would have been jealous.

_ ‘Only for a short time,’ _ Tiath said.  _ ‘Then you would have returned to your usual mischief.’ _

_ ‘You mean your mischief,  _ Waverly replied. ‘ _ Aren’t you always the one dragging me into trouble?’ _

“What?” Nicole asked, looking at Waverly with hesitant concern.

“Sorry. I’m laughing, not crying.” She sniffed, offering Nicole what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Tiath is just… being Tiath.”

Nicole returned the smile with a watery one of her own. She leaned back against Tiath and stared up at the sky, one hand still resting on Calamith’s snout. “Did you and Tiath mean what you said before? About not wanting any other bronze but Calamith?”

_ ‘Tell her yes,’ _ Tiath insisted, but Waverly was already answering.

“Of course. We love you, and we won’t have anyone else.”

Calamith’s large, swirling eyes regained a little of their color, turning purple at the edges. ‘ _ Even if it means no eggs?’ _

“Eggs aren’t the only measure of a bronze or gold dragon’s worth,” Waverly said. “Both of you are enough, just as you are.”

Her statement, pained but heartfelt, seemed to offer the dragons temporary closure. Tiath sent Waverly a pulse of gratitude and relief. ‘ _ I am not a disappointment to you?’ _

_ ‘Never, my love,’ _ Waverly told her.

Calamith made a crooning noise, nuzzling Tiath’s shoulder. Nicole heaved a long sigh, and her body relaxed visibly. “Thanks, Waves.”

Waverly reached into Nicole’s lap, searching for her hand. When she found it, she gave an affectionate squeeze. “Don’t thank me. We’re a family, the four of us.”

_ ‘Soon to be five,’ _ Calamith added.

_ ‘Yes,’ _ said Tiath. ‘ _ When your hatchling arrives, Waverly, Calamith and I will prepare them for the day they grow old enough to Impress their own dragon.’ _

Waverly relayed her dragon’s message to Nicole, who used her free hand to stroke Tiath’s exposed underbelly. “I don’t care whether they Impress or not,” Nicole said. “Everyone benefits from being loved by a dragon.”

“By  _ two _ dragons. The finest dragons on all of Pern.” Waverly’s eyes welled up again, from joy rather than sorrow. She clutched Nicole’s hand tighter. As long as she had her family around her, everything would turn out right.

***

Nicole stirred her bowl of stew, moving her spoon around without bringing it to her mouth. She was dining alone this evening, quite an unusual occurrence. Waverly had returned to the weyr for a nap late that afternoon, and Nicole hadn’t had the heart to wake her for dinner. Sleep was one of the rare intervals when her weyrmate found peace.

_ If we could just be sure that Tiath and Calamith are all right. That the reason Tiath hasn’t clutched isn’t because one of them is sick, or… _

Nicole couldn’t bring herself to finish the chilling thought. Losing one’s dragon was an unfathomably painful possibility. Many riders went mad and ended their own lives when the bond was severed, and dragons disappeared Between forever if their riders were taken from them.

“Hey, Nicole.”

The sound of a raspy voice, followed by the loud thump of someone sitting in the seat beside hers, interrupted Nicole’s thoughts. She turned to see Wynonna perched next to her on the bench, looking surprisingly beautiful despite the bags under her eyes and the wildness of her hair. Motherhood had been good to her.

“Just woke up, I assume? Your sister’s sleeping too.”

Wynonna seemed to approve. “Let her nap the depression away.”

“Well, that’s awfully blunt.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Wynonna tucked into the bowl of stew she’d brought, with smacking moans of approval. After a few large swallows, she continued. “It’ll be all right, you know. Peseth’s gotta lay another Queen eventually. Even if Tiath never clutches, the weyr will have enough dragons.”

Nicole sighed, abandoning her spoon and bringing her hands to her lap. “I know Waverly and Tiath both feel responsible, since—”

“Since Willa up and disappeared, and Rosita’s in the south. But that doesn’t mean all the pressure should be on Waverly and Tiath.”

“Waverly’s lucky to have Purgatory’s weyrwoman behind her.”

Wynonna’s face hardened. “I’ll always be her big sister first. Weyrwoman second.”

“I never doubted that.”

Nicole watched Wynonna wolf down some more stew, mildly amused by the speed with which she devoured her dinner. Soon the bowl was empty, and Nicole slid her own over without a word. Wynonna mumbled her thanks around a full mouth, tucking into the second portion.

“Mmf — mm. Maybe we should bring in a healer from one of the other weyrs?” More smacking sounds followed, which Nicole politely ignored. “Someone who knows dragons.”

“Good idea,” Nicole said. Tiath and Calamith appeared to be in good health, but if it would put Waverly’s mind at ease…

_ And your own. Just because Calamith seems all right doesn’t mean something isn’t wrong. _

The same icy chill from earlier crept down Nicole’s spine. She doubted she would be one of the few riders able to survive without the other half of her soul, and she had a weyrmate to care for, not to mention a weyrbrat on the way.

“Do it. I know Purgatory’s a small weyr, so—”

A piercing shriek inside of Nicole’s head caused her to drop the sentence. She doubled over, clutching her ears and screwing her eyes shut. Fear flooded her veins, not cold, but fiery and urgent.

_ ‘Help! Tiath!’ _

Calamith’s message was dizzying, so loud and insistent that Nicole’s vision went white. When it returned, she saw Wynonna’s face hovering in front of hers. “Nicole? Nicole, what’s wrong?”

Nicole leapt from her seat, slamming her knee into the underside of the table in her hurry. She raced out of the dining hall, nearly bowling over several confused weyrfolk as she burst into the adjoining corridor.

“Nicole!”

Wynonna was hot on her heels, but Nicole didn’t bother waiting. Calamith’s fear had only grown, to the point where it was difficult for her to breathe. She took the stairs two at a time, leaping toward Purgatory’s lowest floor and the entrance to the hatching grounds.

The evening sun stabbed Nicole’s eyes as she sprinted out onto the sand, but she kept up her pace. Despite the glare, she could make out where Tiath had collapsed in a heap of crumpled wings. Calamith stood over her, shouting his distress to the evening sky.

“Tiath!”

Nicole caught sight of Waverly running from the opposite side of the hatching grounds, kicking up a spray of sand in her hurry. They met in each other the middle, skidding to a stop beside Tiath’s prone form.

“Waverly, what’s wrong?” Nicole asked.

Wynonna was even less optimistic. “Is she alive?”

“Tiath...” Waverly dropped to her knees, placing her forehead and both hands on Tiath’s belly. She sobbed, too overwhelmed to say anything but her dragon’s name.

Nicole looked around. Several weyrfolk had come to see what the commotion was, gaping at the sight of the fallen queen. Rage swelled within Nicole’s breast. She might have shouted for them to leave, if she hadn’t caught sight of X’vier and J’hon taking charge of the crowd, shepherding them away like disobedient herdbeasts.

A shadow passed over the hatching grounds, and a draft blew across Nicole’s face as Peseth, the largest dragon in the weyr, descended from the sky to land beside her daughter. More dragons arrived, Lizanth and Ringeth among them, perching on the stones that ringed the sand to keep a foreboding watch.

Nicole crouched by Waverly’s side, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Waves—”

Waverly continued sobbing, incapable of words. Her face was a pale, tear-streaked mess, and silently, Nicole prepared herself for the worst. If Tiath died, she needed to bury her own pain and do everything possible to make sure Waverly didn’t follow.

***

Waverly curled against Tiath’s stomach, trembling with fear and agony. The sharp, stabbing contractions in her gut blurred her vision, but the primal terror emanating from her queen was far worse. It was a silent scream that nonetheless roared across their bond, filling Waverly with dread.

_ ‘Tiath. My Tiath. Please…’ _

Another spasm coursed through her body, and she wrapped her arms around her abdomen, huddling into a tight ball.  _ No. Nonono. Not my baby too… not Nickey… _

Tiath let out screech mighty enough to shake the evening’s first stars. Calamith, Peseth, and the other dragons joined her, bellowing their grief, and Waverly’s heart stopped. Surely this was it. Tiath was about to pass Between. She clung to their bond, begging wordlessly for the other half of her soul to stay.

There was a long pause, and then a barking rumble, one that filled the air with a foul, burnt stench. In her panicked state, it took Waverly several moments to realize what had happened. She didn’t piece it together until she saw a beautiful stream of fire erupt from Tiath’s gaping jaws, shooting high into the air.

_ Fire. She’s breathing fire! _

Waverly uncurled herself, collapsing onto her back and laughing through her tears. Half-hysterical, but utterly overjoyed, she watched as plumes of red and orange flame illuminated the sky above the hatching grounds. Her dragon wasn’t dying, or even miscarrying. Tiath had just eaten firestone.

“You awful creature!” Waverly said, still sobbing with relief. “I thought you were about to…”   


_ ‘I thought I was too,’  _ Tiath thought, every bit as surprised as Waverly.

“You had an upset stomach, and you assumed you were dying?” Waverly rolled onto her side, slapping Tiath’s forelimb with her hand. To such a large creature, it was barely a tap, but the dragon seemed offended anyway.

_ ‘How should I have known? I’ve never eaten firestone before.’  _ Tiath’s eyes whirled red, and she lifted her head again, expelling another impressive belch of fire.

“Well. This explains some things.”

Only then did Waverly notice Nicole kneeling beside her in the sand. Her weyrmate’s face was the picture of exhausted relief, and Waverly imagined her own expression must be similar. She pushed herself up, sagging into Nicole’s embrace.

“I thought…”

“I know,” Nicole murmured. “But it’s okay. You and Tiath are okay.”

Waverly began to relax, but flinched in surprise when Calamith raised his head, releasing a brassy bugle of joy into the night. He settled back down beside Tiath, who was equally startled, and twined his neck with hers.  _ ‘Why did you eat firestone? What about our eggs?’ _

The question wasn’t accusatory, more concerned, but it was the same one on Waverly’s mind. On Peseth’s, too, as it turned out.  _ ‘Yes, what were you thinking, Tiath?’ _ the senior queen asked. _ ‘Eating firestone prevents queens from laying eggs.’ _

_ ‘I didn’t,’ _ Tiath insisted. Another flaming burp made a liar of her, and Calamith had to move his head out of the way to avoid the blast.

“What did she say?” Wynonna crouched by Waverly’s other side, one hand already extended.

Waverly grasped it, giving a reassuring squeeze. “She says she didn’t eat any firestone.”

Tiath coughed, smoke curling up from her nostrils.

“Maybe she didn’t,” said X’vier, arriving with a sleepy Alice in his arms. He and J’hon had finished dismissing the crowd and come to the middle of the circle. “At least, not on purpose.”

Dazed as she was, Waverly didn’t understand his meaning right away. Nicole, however, inhaled sharply. “Are you saying someone might have fed it to her on purpose?”

“Not an easy task,” J’hon said. “Feeding firestone to an unwilling dragon would require a significant amount of subtlety, as well as a particularly treacherous disposition.”

Waverly’s good mood drained away. Though she was immensely grateful that Tiath wasn’t dying, and relieved to know the reason why her queen hadn’t clutched besides, X’vier’s theory presented a new problem. Her stomach dropped like a stone. “Not easy, but possible.”

“I don’t want to believe it,” X’vier muttered. He held Alice tighter, and she yawned, drooling onto his shoulder.

Wynonna exchanged a narrow-eyed glance with both her weyrmates. “An unhappy bronzerider, maybe? Someone who lost to Calamith during Tiath’s mating flight?”

“Or someone who wants to hurt the Weyr in general,” Nicole said. “Easiest way to do that is make sure there aren’t any new eggs.”

Peseth seemed unsettled by that implication.  _ ‘No. None of my food was tainted. We all feed from the same weyrbowl. And how would someone put firestone into a herdbeast?’ _

Wynonna passed on the message, while Waverly looked at Tiath. Her dragon seemed agitated. The whip of her tail lashed back and forth, and her claws shifted in the sand.  _ ‘If I didn’t know, you might not have noticed either,’ _ the young queen said to Peseth.

Nicole stood up, helping Waverly to rise with her. “If we figure out the how, that should lead us to the who.” 

Despite the wobbliness of her legs, Waverly found her footing. The very idea that someone had harmed her beloved dragon, poisoned her,  _ stolen _ a clutch from her before it had even been laid, filled her with righteous fury. “I need to know who did this,” she said, clenching her hands into fists. “They hurt Tiath, and they’re going to pay.”

“We’ll find out, babygirl,” Wynonna declared. “And when we do, they’ll be taking a long walk straight out Purgatory’s front door.”

_ ‘Not if I catch them first.’  _ Calamith’s eyes glowed orange, a color Waverly had never seen before, but she didn’t need any help interpreting what it meant. Dragons almost never harmed humans, but Waverly had no doubt that the bronze would make an exception for whomever had poisoned his weyrmate. She empathized strongly.

“Let’s go to the weyrbowl.” She let go of Wynonna’s hand, ducking out from beneath Nicole’s arm. “I’m not feeding Tiath anything else until I check the meat myself.”

“My dear Waverly, I believe X’vier and myself could be of assistance,” J’hon said gently. “You should remain with your dragon. She has experienced considerable distress already this evening. Besides, we still do not know how our unknown enemy managed to feed her the firestone. Perhaps he snuck into your weyr. If he did...”

“Not a chance,” Nicole said. “We would have noticed.”

“Are you sure?” X’vier said. “None of us could have expected something like this.”

Nicole’s jaw bunched, but she admitted he was right, albeit grudgingly. “Understood, weyrleader. Waverly and I will check our weyr right away. Maybe we can figure out how this happened.”

“Doc and I will check the weyrbowl,” X’vier said. “Wynonna?” He passed her Alice, and she took the sleepy weyrbrat without a word.

Waverly was relieved. She hadn’t realized it until that moment, but she didn’t want to be apart from her sister. She stayed close to Wynonna and Nicole as X’vier and J’hon left the hatching sands, meeting their dragons and mounting behind their necks.

_ ‘Lizanth promises he will do his best,’ _ Peseth said to Waverly.  _ ‘Tiath is his daughter. We will protect her.’ _

_ ‘I don’t need protecting,’ _ Tiath grumbled, but she didn’t protest when the senior queen folded a wing over her back and settled down beside her, forcing Calamith to shift and make room.

Wynonna snorted. “Once a hatchling…” Her swaying movements as she rocked Alice in her arms blunted the teeth of her comment, and she seemed mostly amused as Peseth and Calamith fussed over Tiath.

“She likes the attention,” Waverly said. “Although she’d never admit it out loud.”

“What about you, Waves?” Nicole asked. “Are you okay?”

Waverly took a deep breath. She wasn’t okay, not in the slightest. An idea of who might have done this had formed in her mind, but whenever her thoughts brushed the borders of the topic, she felt a deep chill. “Wynonna?”

Wynonna raised an eyebrow, instantly suspicious. “What?”

“Nicole and I have something to tell you. Well, more like something we neglected to tell you earlier...”

***

“I can’t believe this,” Wynonna snarled in her quietest possible voice. Alice was asleep against her shoulder, but her face was a mask of rage. “T’cker practically assaulted  _ my _ baby sister in the halls of  _ my _ Weyr, and you didn’t think I deserved to know about it?”

Guilt boiled in Nicole’s stomach. There were plenty of excuses she could have used —  _ Waverly asked me not to say anything, we thought it was over and done with, we took care of it in our own way — _ but she didn’t feel right saying any of them. As far as she was concerned, Wynonna’s anger was justified.

“You’re right—”

“Don’t,” Waverly interrupted, shooting Nicole a look before rounding on Wynonna. Small and slender though she was, she radiated protective anger, every inch a proud goldrider. “He didn’t assault me. He never even laid a hand on me. And who says it’s your job to protect me from everything? I told T’cker to get lost, and he did. The situation was under control.”

“So why didn’t you tell me?” Wynonna demanded.

“What, so just because I’m your sister, I have to tell you everything?”

Wynonna threw up the hand that wasn’t cradling Alice. “Yes!”

“No.”

Nicole held up her own hands, attempting to defuse the situation. “Waverly, Wynonna’s just worried about—”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you in the first place,” Waverly snapped, completely ignoring Nicole’s efforts. “You turn rainclouds into Threadfall, like some kind of overprotective—”

“Overprotective?” Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Your dragon was poisoned, and mine might have been too! Are you  _ really _ going to call me overprotective right now? Because—”

“Both of you, stop it!” Nicole shouted.

Both sisters froze, then whipped their heads toward her with matching glares.

“This isn’t your argument, Nicole,” Waverly said. “I don’t need  _ you _ treating me like I can’t handle myself too.”

Wynonna spoke over her, hardly listening. “Stay out of this. I thought you were a good weyrmate, but apparently—”

“She’s an amazing weyrmate! You’re the one—”

A low rumble from Peseth silenced them all.

_ ‘What did she say?’  _ Nicole asked Calamith.

The bronze translated.  _ ‘Quiet. My daughter and Wynonna’s new hatchling sleep.’ _

Nicole looked toward Tiath. The dainty gold had snuggled down between Peseth and Calamith, and seemed to be dozing peacefully. Waverly and Wynonna continued glaring at each other, but they didn’t raise their voices again.

“Okay,” Nicole sighed. It seemed as though she would have to take on the role of peacemaker in this situation. “Wynonna, we don’t have any proof that T’cker did this. It could have been another rider, or someone else entirely. We should check Waverly’s weyr for evidence.”

“I don’t need proof,” Wynonna said darkly. “I’ll beat a confession out of him if I have to.”

“Save the beating for after we prove who did it,” Waverly said.

“Oh, really? You won’t chew me out for beating up whoever did this to you? It’s not too ‘overprotective’ of me?”

“No, because I’ll be helping you.”

Wynonna cracked a smile. “That’s my girl.”

“Come on,” Waverly said. “I’m tired of standing around out here.”

“I’m tired in general,” Wynonna agreed. She and Waverly left the hatching grounds, and Nicole followed. Her steps faltered, however, when Calamith reached out with a tendril of thought.

_ ‘What?’ _

_ ‘A message from Wynonna.’ _

Nicole sighed.  _ ‘Do I want to hear this?’ _

_ ‘She says if you let anyone hurt Waverly again, she’ll—’ _

_ ‘You can stop right there. I get the idea.’ _

Nicole stared a hole through the back of Wynonna’s head all the way back to the weyr, but deep down, she couldn’t be too angry with the weyrwoman. This  _ was _ partially her fault. She was the one who shared Waverly’s bed, who spent most hours of the day by her side. How hadn’t she noticed something was amiss?

_ ‘It isn’t your fault,’ _ Calamith said.  _ ‘None of us knew.’ _

_ ‘At least this means you and Tiath might have a chance at clutching next time, assuming we get her off the firestone.’ _

Calamith snorted. _ ‘Tiath has no desire to eat any more. It does not sit well on a dragon’s stomach if they wait too long to expel.’ _ From his tone, Nicole could tell her bronze was sympathetic to Tiath’s plight. Most dragons breathed fire immediately after ingesting the stone. Having it build up to an involuntary release must have been uncomfortable to say the least.

_ ‘Keep an eye on her, Calamith. If something happens to Tiath…’ _

_ ‘I will protect her,’  _ Calamith said.  _ ‘But you are the one I am afraid for. If this person poisoned Tiath to hurt Waverly…’ _

He didn’t need to explain further. If Waverly was the true target — which was extremely likely, since dragons almost never held grudges or fought amongst themselves — then she and everyone she cared about was also in danger.

Silently, Nicole vowed not to let that happen.


	6. Chapter 6

**** “Found anything yet, Nicole?”   
  
Nicole shook her hair out of her eyes as Wynonna called her name, rising from her crouched position by the edge of the weyrledge. She had been staring down at the hatching grounds for the past several minutes, watching over Tiath and Calamith’s dark shapes on the sands below, but nothing seemed amiss. Both dragons were asleep, and the crowd had dispersed.   
  
After breathing a significant amount of fire and regurgitating the wet remnants of the firestone she had consumed, Tiath felt much better, according to Waverly. That was a relief, but it only took the edge off Nicole’s anxiety. She, Waverly, and Wynonna had been searching the weyr for the past half hour, but they were no closer to discovering how Tiath had been poisoned, or whether Peseth was also a target.   
  
“Nothing yet,” Nicole said, straightening and turning to face Wynonna. Waverly stood close by, holding Alice tight, and Nicole couldn’t help but notice the fevered brightness burning in her weyrmate’s eyes. With each passing minute, Waverly’s jaw took on more tension, and a fine layer of sweat had broken out beneath her hairline, faintly visible in the fading red light of the sunset.   
  
“Same here.” Wynonna came to stand beside Nicole, placing her hands on her hips as she gazed over the hatching grounds. The cliffs that ringed the circle of sand were dotted with holes, each home to an individual dragon and rider. Waverly’s weyr — Nicole’s now, too – was on the bottom level.   
  
_ An easy hop down to the hatching grounds for Tiath and Peseth. Not easy for an intruder to access without being noticed. _   
  
“Whoever did this was careful,” Nicole said aloud. “If — and it’s still a big if — they snuck into our weyr from outside, they must have blended in.”   
  
Waverly’s brow furrowed. “You think it’s someone we know? Someone who lives here?”   
  
“You’re saying T’cker isn’t a likely suspect,” Wynonna said. Nicole didn’t miss the edge of bitterness in her voice. The weyrwoman was obviously still annoyed that she and Waverly had kept T’cker’s inappropriate advances a secret, and it showed in the curl of her lip.   
  
“It’s not likely, but we can’t rule him out.” Nicole pinched her forehead, struggling to think. The hot ball of anger in her stomach and the tight ache in her throat made it difficult, but she pushed her feelings down as best she could.  _ Keep a clear head. Think, Nicole! Maybe how will lead us to who? _   
  
“This whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” Wynonna muttered. “T’cker is the one with motivation to poison Tiath. He’s the one who tried to—”   
  
“Just because T’cker’s a creep doesn’t mean he’s a poisoner.” Waverly’s voice had an edge as well, though she kept her volume low so as not to wake Alice. The baby slept peacefully, one chubby cheek smushed against Waverly’s shoulder. “You’re jumping to conclusions.”   
  
Wynonna bristled. “It’s not a big jump to make. T’cker drives a wedge between Tiath and Calamith, gets her to rise again months early and without clutching, makes sure to show up at her next mating flight with Spideth…”   
  
The frustration simmering beneath Waverly’s calm exterior burst forth with quiet force. She clutched Alice tighter, fisting the fabric of her swaddle with shaking hands. “Tiath and I would  _ never _ pick them. I begged for Nicole and Calamith to catch us last time.”    
  
“We know that,” Wynonna said. “Does T’cker?”   
  
“Why are you asking me? I’ve barely spoken to him.”   
  
“It’s not like you’d tell me if you did.”   
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”   
  
“It means if you’d warned me, maybe I could have done something. Kept a closer eye on you, or—”   
  
“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you,” Waverly said, her voice rising. “When are you going to realize I’m not a weyrbrat anymore? I’m pregnant with a child of my own!”   
  
Wynonna snorted, rolling her eyes skyward. “If you’re so grown-up, why don’t you act like it?”   
  
“Why don’t you?” Waverly snapped. “You’re the  _ weyrwoman, _ aren’t you?”   
  
Hurt flashed across Wynonna’s face. “That’s not fair, Waves. I didn’t ask for Peseth to rise before Swaneth. I wasn’t supposed to be weyrwoman at all.”

“Maybe you weren’t.”   
  
Nicole reached out, gripping Waverly’s shoulder. “Hey. Stop it. I know you’re upset, but Wynonna’s just trying to help.”

Waverly’s burning eyes turned on her, and Nicole felt the heat of them crawl along her skin. “She can help by shutting her mouth.”   
  
Wynonna averted her gaze and clenched her fists, but didn’t offer up a defense. She remained silent, pressing her lips into a thin line. 

Something stirred in the back of Nicole’s mind: a suspicion, or maybe an idea.  _ Mouths… a bad taste in my mouth… _ “It had to be something that was in her mouth!” She rushed over to the wall-carved shelves where Tiath and Calamith’s grooming supplies were kept.

“What are you doing?” Waverly asked.

Nicole didn’t answer. She tossed various brushes and files onto the ground, careless where they landed, until she found what she was looking for. Triumphantly, she turned, holding Tiath’s toothbrush. Its design wasn’t so different from the ones humans used, although the bristles circled all the way around the tip, and the thin handle was far longer to reach the back of a dragon’s large mouth.

“If it wasn’t in the meat,” Nicole explained, “it had to get in Tiath’s mouth some other way.”

Waverly’s eyes widened. “It’d be easier than poisoning a fresh kill.”

“Right,” Wynonna agreed. “I don’t see how someone could put firestone in a herdbeast Tiath had just caught.”

“Can we prove it, though?”

Nicole examined the tip of the brush. At first glance, there was nothing strange about it, but when she brought it to her nose, she caught a distinct scent: the sour smell of concentrated firestone, similar to rotten eggs.

“Come on,” she said, hurrying into her weyr.

“Wait,” Wynonna said, following quickly behind.

“You asked for proof.” Nicole passed through the bedroom she shared with Waverly and entered their bathing chambers, where a basin of lukewarm water waited. She dipped the toothbrush inside, and it hissed at first contact, filling the room with more of the same bad smell.

“By the Egg,” Wynonna said, shaking her head in disbelief. 

Waverly’s brow furrowed with uncertainty. “Would such a small amount of firestone be enough to make a queen infertile?”

The water’s surface began to boil. Steam billowed from the basin, rising to the bathing chamber’s ceiling along with a high-pitched whine. Nicole yanked the toothbrush back, but she had left it too long. Yellow froth bubbled within the bristles, and the stink clogged her nose. She threw the brush aside just in time. Several sharp pops echoed through the room, and the toothbrush jerked with a series of small explosions. When the fog cleared, a charred, blackened lump of crystal was all that remained of the bristles.

The commotion woke Alice immediately. She blinked in confusion, and her face turned red as she released a frightened wail. Wynonna took her from Waverly’s arms, rocking her back and forth, petting her mostly-bald head. “Shh, shh. It’s okay, babygirl. You’re just fine.” Her face, however, said the opposite. Wynonna’s dark eyes were full of anger, and Nicole saw the desire for vengeance all too clearly within their depths.

Waverly exhaled a shaking breath, still staring at the toothbrush. “That rotten tunnelsnake. Whoever did this must have cut their poison with flamestone.”

Nicole’s stomach churned. Unlike regular firestone, flamestone was far more concentrated, and far more dangerous. It exploded on contact with water, and though dragons could technically consume it with their unusually dry mouths, no rider in their right mind would use it for fighting thread. The risk of injury was far too great.

She looked at Waverly, who hadn’t yet torn her eyes away from the melted toothbrush. “What do you want to do?”

***

Waverly swallowed, her heartbeat throbbing inside her ears. Her body couldn’t decide whether it was hot or cold, and her hands shook at her sides. She was furious, terrified, lost, and as Nicole’s voice filtered into her panicked brain — _ “What do you want to do?”  _ — her stomach gave a sickening lurch.   
  
What _ was _ she supposed to do? Someone had hurt Tiath. Her heart. The other half of her soul. Someone had tried to harm, maybe even kill, her dragon. She wanted them to pay. She also wanted to hop on Tiath’s back and fly far away, where no one could touch either of them. She wanted to stare into the eyes of the person who had done this and demand to know why.   
  
“Waves?”   
  
Waverly blinked. Nicole and Wynonna stood next to her, watching her intently. She hadn’t realized they were so close. “How did this happen?” Her voice came out hoarse, broken. “I should have seen it. I should have known…”   
  
“You couldn’t have known.” Nicole wrapped a warm arm around Waverly’s shoulder, and though Waverly couldn’t find it in herself to relax, she was grateful for the gesture’s reassuring weight. “None of us saw this coming.”   
  
Tears welled in Waverly’s eyes as she tried, and failed, to meet Wynonna’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things—”   
  
“It’s okay.” Shifting Alice, who continued whimpering in mild distress, to one arm and hip, Wynonna cupped Waverly’s cheek with her free hand. She stroked Waverly’s hair back, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. “If someone hurt Peseth, I don’t know what I’d do.”   
  
That statement jogged Waverly’s brain. “We should check her toothbrush and make sure she wasn’t poisoned too.”   
  
“Let’s hope she wasn’t,” Nicole said. “She hasn’t shown any signs, right?”   
  
Wynonna shook her head. “None so far.”   
  
The three of them left the bathing chamber and crossed quickly through Waverly’s weyr, emerging in the hallway. They hurried to the next door, but when Wynonna opened it, Waverly saw nothing amiss. Certain sections of Wynonna’s weyr were messier than her own, but it was a familiar, controlled sort of chaos, the kind only her sister could have caused. One of Doc’s hats hung on a chair by the table, and the corner shelf where X’vier kept his books seemed neat as always.

_ That doesn’t mean Peseth is safe. Whoever did this wouldn’t disrupt things if they were trying to be subtle. _   
  
They exited through the back door, stepping out onto the weyrledge. Wynonna made a beeline for the shelf that held Peseth’s grooming supplies, but Waverly grasped her shoulder. “Wait.” Wynonna turned, and Waverly looked at Alice, shaking her head. 

Wynonna sighed, but accepted the warning. “Nicole, would you?”   
  
Nicole nodded gravely. “Wait here.” She approached the shelf, removing Peseth’s toothbrush carefully from its place. After a quick sniff, she shook her head. “Nothing. I could smell it on Tiath’s.”   
  
Waverly hurried to Nicole’s side, smelling for herself. Nothing seemed amiss. Relief and fear churned in her chest. “I’m glad Peseth’s okay, but that means Tiath… someone wants to hurt us.”   
  
“We should interview the weyrfolk,” Nicole said. “Maybe someone’s seen something.”   
  
“Like what?” Waverly blurted out, harsher than she’d intended. “Whoever did this didn’t lurk around waiting to get caught.”   
  
“Maybe he did,” Wynonna said. “If it was T’cker, and you’re his target…”   
  
A chill raced down Waverly’s spine. “We don’t have any proof that he did this.”

“Why do you keep rejecting the idea?”

The logical part of Waverly knew Wynonna wasn’t trying to be accusatory, but the question rankled her anyway. She took a moment before responding, tamping down the anger boiling in the bottom of her gut. “I just… I want to be sure.”

Wynonna opened her mouth to object, but to Waverly’s relief, Nicole stepped in, forestalling another argument. “Wynonna, why don’t you put Alice to bed and ask Peseth to contact Lizanth and Ringeth? Someone should tell X’vier and J’hon what happened. They’ll want to organize some kind of security for tonight.”

A furrow appeared in Wynonna’s brow, but after an inward debate that played out obviously on her face, she gave in. “Fine. What about Waverly?”

“She should get some sleep. Today’s been difficult.”

Waverly wanted to protest, to say that sleep was the last thing she needed, but as soon as Nicole mentioned the possibility, she realized just how tired she was. Her limbs were painfully heavy, and the edges of her vision were blurry with exhaustion. When Nicole wrapped an arm around her waist, she grasped Nicole’s shoulder from behind for extra support.

“I won’t sleep in our weyr.” She doubted she could fall asleep in the same place where her safety and privacy had been violated, even if she wanted to. “I’m staying with Tiath.”

Nicole merely nodded. “We’ll spend the night on the hatching grounds. I’ll bring some blankets.”

The next several minutes crawled by, full of quiet tension. Wynonna put Alice to bed, then gave Waverly some extra blankets from her own closet. After exchanging a hug with her sister, during which Wynonna whispered, “It’s okay, babygirl, everything will be all right,” Waverly allowed Nicole to lead her to the hatching grounds.

Their dragons slept in the middle of the ring, curled up together as though to guard each other. Tiath rested on her side, and Calamith’s long neck was draped protectively over hers. Much to Waverly’s relief, someone had raked the area where Tiath had vomited and covered it with fresh sand. The smell of rotten eggs lingered, but it wasn’t unbearable.

When she and Nicole arrived, Tiath cracked one eye open.

_ ‘Waverly. My love. Are you feeling better?’ _

_ ‘I should be asking you that question, silly beast.’ _ Waverly walked up to Tiath’s stomach and splayed herself face-first against it, trying to wrap Tiath’s huge body in her arms even though such a thing was impossible. She closed her eyes, breathing in her dragon’s scent, resting her cheek against Tiath’s soft underbelly and trying not to cry.

_ ‘I am fine. Calamith, too. He worries for me. Tell Nicole not to wake him.’ _

Waverly relayed the message.

“Wasn’t planning on it.” Nicole did, however, approach Calamith’s head and shift the blankets to one arm, placing her other palm on the blunt tip of his nose. The bronze let out a low, wheezing breath, but remained asleep. “Waves,” Nicole whispered, without looking away from Calamith’s face, “we should talk about T’cker.”

“I don’t want to talk about him.”

Waverly slumped onto the sand, resting her back against Tiath. Now that she was within arm’s reach of her dragon, she couldn’t bring herself to break contact. Nicole joined her, unfolding one of the blankets and wrapping it around them both. Waverly hesitated, then leaned into Nicole’s side.

“I don’t want to talk about him,” she repeated, trying to sound sure of herself.

“Can we at least talk about why you don’t want to talk?”

Waverly fisted the edge of the blanket in one hand, rubbing her thumb anxiously along the tightly-woven fibers. She didn’t  _ want _ to, but the soft worry in Nicole’s voice begged her to say something. “He frightens me, Nicole. I try not to think about that day, or the moment during Tiath’s flight when he almost caught us, but… I think about it a lot. Too much.”

A gentle hand caressed Waverly’s cheek, and she allowed Nicole to turn her face and tilt her chin up. Her weyrmate’s warm, loving brown eyes waited for her, and the promise of protection shining in them soothed some of her fear.

“The queen chooses her bronze, Waves. You rejected T’cker and Spideth. You chose me and Calamith.”

“But what if that’s why he’s doing this? Because I rejected him? What if it’s my fault—”

“Waverly Earp, you do  _ not _ have to share your time, your attention, or your body with  _ anyone _ you didn’t choose. If you hadn’t chosen me…” Nicole swallowed visibly, as though just thinking about the possibility was painful. “If you hadn’t chosen me, I would have been heartbroken, but I never would have poisoned Tiath. That’s unforgivable. Inexcusable. And if T’cker did this, it’s all his fault. Not yours.”

“I know that. I do. But I still feel like...”

_ ‘Listen to Nicole,’  _ Tiath said.  _ ‘T’cker and Spideth are dangerous. I would never choose a dangerous mate for you. I love you far too much.’ _

Tears of gratitude welled in Waverly’s eyes. She burrowed into the safety of Nicole’s shoulder, crying into her weyrmate’s shirt. Nicole stroked circles between her shoulder blades, pulling the blanket tighter around them. “Whatever Tiath said to you, she’s right. This isn’t your fault.”

After a few sniffs, Waverly managed to regain a bit of breath. “I’d do it again.”

“What?”

“Choose you and Calamith. I’d do it again, no matter what.”

Nicole laughed softly. “Now that sounds like my Waverly.”

“But what are we going to do?”

“You’ll be brave, like you always are, and we’ll figure this out together. Wynonna, X’vier, and J’hon will help.”

Waverly lifted her head, meeting Nicole’s eyes once more. “We will. And when I find out who hurt Tiath, I’ll send him on a one-way trip Between.”

***

_ When Waverly opened her eyes, she found herself sitting astride Tiath’s back. No, not Tiath... a different queen, larger, with a curious reddish tinge to her golden scales. Waverly’s small hands, a child’s hands, clutched the first rounded bump at the base of the beast’s graceful neck, and she laughed into the wind as it whipped through her hair. _ __  
  
_ “Higher, Swaneth!” _   
  
_ Swaneth angled toward the sun, soaring higher into the sky. Waverly squealed with delight, squeezing her legs tight around the great queen’s neck. She had never been this high before. Her parents had never allowed it, and now that they’d… left… Wynonna had forbidden it too. As far as Waverly was concerned, it was bullying, plain and simple. Wynonna just didn’t want her to have any fun. _ __  
  
‘Is this high enough, Waverly?’   
  
__ Waverly peered down past Swaneth’s shoulder. The weyrbowl was so small that the mighty herdbeasts below were mere dots on the vivid green landscape.

_ “It’s amazing! Is this how you feel all the time? So big and beautiful? Like you’re the sun, shining over the whole world?” _ __  
  
‘Yes.’   
  
_ Suddenly, Swaneth paused in her ascent. The queen leveled off, then turned, heading away from the weyrbowl and back toward Purgatory’s cliffs. Waverly frowned. Something was wrong. Swaneth hadn’t said so explicitly, but the feeling was there, a creeping heaviness that made Waverly’s shoulders sag. _ __  
__  
_ “What are you doing?” _ __  
  
‘Willa wants us to return.’   
  
_ “I don’t wanna go back to Purgatory. Let’s stay up here.” _ __  
  
‘We cannot. Willa calls me.’   
  
_ Waverly pouted, but there was no use protesting. Swaneth was her sister’s dragon, not hers. _ __  
  
_ “Okay, so Willa’s gonna be mad at me. But one day, I’ll have a queen of my very own. The brightest, most beautiful queen on all of Pern, just like you. Then people besides Wynonna will notice me. I hope she gets her own hatchling, so she has someone else to treat like a baby.’ _ __  
  
‘You are not a baby, Waverly. But you should be kind to Wynonna. She loves you.’   
  
_ “Well, maybe I want her to love me less.” _ __  
__  
_ Swaneth clearly disapproved, but kept her opinion to herself until they landed on the weyrledge. Two figures rushed out to greet them, and Waverly’s heart sank into her stolen riding stirrups. Willa came first, rolling in like an angry storm, and barely a step behind was Wynonna, every bit as frantic as Waverly had imagined. _ __  
_  
_ __ “What the blazes were you doing?”

_ Waverly yelped as Willa seized her arm, gripping too tight, as if to yank her from Swaneth’s back. “Willa, I…”  _

_ “Who gave you permission to take my dragon flying, you rotten little—” _ __  
__  
_ Before Willa could shake her again, Wynonna came to her rescue. “Let her go.” She pulled Willa’s arm back, then bent down to unfasten the straps on Waverly’s boots. “Waves, you dimglow. You don’t just take other people’s dragons! Don’t you know how dangerous that is?” _ __  
__  
_ “Yes,” Waverly mumbled, averting her eyes. She wasn’t sure which upset her more: the scorching anger in Willa’s glare, or the furious worry in Wynonna’s. “It’s not dangerous for  _ me.” __  
__  
_ “Shut up.” Wynonna scooped Waverly off Swaneth’s back and set her on the ground, but remained standing between her and Willa. _ __  
__  
_ “Back off, Wynonna,” Willa spat, full of righteous fury. “I’m not done with her. She took my dragon.” _ __  
__  
_ “She’s just a stupid kid,” Wynonna protested. “I’ll deal with it.” _ __  
__  
_ “Why didn’t you deal with it before this happened?” _ __  
__  
_ “Stop it. Acting as weyrwoman doesn’t give you the right to go around snapping at everyone like a mean old watchwher.” _ __  
__  
_ Willa’s lip curled into a sneer. Despite her resentment, fear caused Waverly to clutch Wynonna’s arm. “If people don’t want to see me angry, they shouldn’t make my job harder. I’m the only goldrider here since Mom died. Without me, there is no Purgatory.” _ __  
__  
_ “There’s a queen egg on the sands right now,” Wynonna said. “I could Impress it.” _ __  
_  
_ __ “You?” Willa rolled her eyes. “You’re too young. Fifteen turns and thinking you’ll Impress a gold. And you, weyrbrat.”

_ Waverly fought the instinct to hide behind Wynonna as Willa’s gaze fixed on her. _

_ “Don’t ever touch my dragon again.” _

_ Waverly lowered her head, staring stubbornly at the ground. She couldn’t hide the fear on her face completely, but she wasn’t about to let Willa see it. “Okay.” _

_ After a long, cold silence, Willa stomped over to Swaneth, swinging into the crook behind the dragon’s neck where Waverly had been seated a few minutes earlier. “Come on. We’re leaving.” _

‘Yes, Willa. Goodbye, Waverly.’  _ Without another word, Swaneth leapt from the weyrledge, soaring off into the afternoon sky. Only when she and Willa were a speck in the distance did Waverly look up, sniffing back tears. _

_ “Hey.” Wynonna dropped to her knees, clasping Waverly’s shoulder with a warm hand. “It’s okay, babygirl. Willa doesn’t hate you.” _

_ “I didn’t ask if she hated me.” _

_ “Yeah, but you always do after she yells at you.” _

_ Waverly chewed her lip, conflicted, but eventually decided she wanted Wynonna’s comfort after all. She wrapped her arms around Wynonna’s neck, taking some reassurance in her older sister’s scent. “If she doesn’t hate me, then why?” _

_ “Because she’s sad and angry all the time, a lot more since mom and dad left. And you’re around to be sad and angry with. That’s Willa’s fault, not yours. One of these days, she’s gonna realize she’s been handling this all wrong.” _

_ “Wynonna, do you really think you’ll Impress Swaneth’s queen egg?” _

_ Wynonna pulled back, kissing Waverly’s forehead and giving her braid a light, affectionate tug. “I hope so, Waves. I really hope so.” _

***

Waverly jolted upright, taking in large gasps of the warm night air. It took her several moments to realize where she was: on the hatching grounds, asleep next to Nicole, Tiath, and Calamith. The three of them dozed lightly, and the sound of their breathing calmed Waverly’s racing heart.

Once her lungs stopped burning, she settled back down against Tiath’s warm belly. Her brow furrowed as she considered the dream… memory. Her childhood hadn’t exactly been a happy one, but it had nothing to do with her current circumstances. She had no idea why her mind had drifted toward that particular moment in time.

_ Maybe because I’m afraid now. Like I was afraid back then… _

_ ‘It turned out well, though,’ _ a quiet voice whispered inside her mind. Apparently, Tiath wasn’t asleep after all, only resting her eyes.  _ ‘Wynonna did Impress Swaneth’s daughter.’ _

_ ‘Yes, but then Swaneth got sick.’ _

That one small event had snowballed into an avalanche of consequences. Swaneth had missed one mating cycle — just one — but that gave Peseth enough time to mature. Eight months later, Peseth had risen a full three months early, exactly one day before Swaneth was due to fly. Wynonna had become Purgatory’s official weyrwoman by default. The first queen and rider to rise after a previous weyrwoman’s departure always took on the title, no matter how young or inexperienced they were.

And Willa? Rather than step down as temporary weyrwoman, the position she’d filled since their mother’s disappearance, she had left. Vanished without a word, just like their parents.

_ ‘I just don’t know why I’m thinking about it,’ _ Waverly said to Tiath.  _ ‘That’s in the past. I should be dreaming about what I’m going to do to the rotten egg who poisoned you.’ _

Tiath blew air from her nose, tossing up a light puff of sand.  _ ‘You will find them, Waverly, and I know you will make this right.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be clear in the text of the chapter, but just to clarify some lore and the sequence of events:
> 
> \- Queen dragons rise to mate every six months or so.  
> \- It takes a queen three months to clutch, and another three months to incubate her eggs.  
> \- Young queens usually rise a little before their first birthday.  
> \- The first queen and rider to rise after the death or departure of the previous weyrwoman become the new senior queen and weyrwoman, no matter what.  
> \- Until a new weyrwoman is chosen, the most mature goldrider takes on the temporary position of 'acting weyrwoman'.  
> \- Not every clutch a queen lays includes a queen egg.
> 
> Timeline:  
> \- Swaneth laid a clutch with a queen egg.  
> \- Mama and Papa Earp, the weyrwoman and weyrleader of Purgatory, mysteriously disappeared.  
> \- Willa became Acting Weyrwoman of Purgatory.  
> \- Peseth hatched. Wynonna Impressed her.  
> \- Swaneth got sick and missed her regular six month mating interval.  
> \- During that year, Peseth hatched and grew up.  
> \- Peseth rose for her first flight one day before Swaneth was supposed to rise and solidify Willa's potion as weyrwoman.  
> \- Willa disappeared after Wynonna "stole" the title of Weyrwoman from her.  
> \- A few years later, Peseth laid a clutch by Lizanth and Ringeth that included Tiath. Waverly Impressed.  
> \- Yes, that makes Swaneth Tiath's grandmother.
> 
> One final, exceptionally important note: 'rotten egg', while silly in our universe, is actually a VERY grave insult in Pernese culture. Dragons are necessary for survival on Pern. A rotten egg means a potentially life-saving dragon failed to hatch. It's a pretty sick burn.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I had a conference on sapphic fiction in July that took up a whole lot of my time. Three chapters and an epilogue to go! We're on the home stretch.

Nicole woke at dawn, to soft pink rays of sunlight and the sight of Waverly’s beautiful face resting a few inches from her own. She smiled, tucking a stray lock of Waverly’s hair behind her ear. Waverly’s lashes fluttered, but she remained fast asleep. It seemed she had found some momentary peace, and Nicole was reluctant to disturb her.

_ ‘Calamith? Are you awake?’ _

A low rumble answered that question. The bronze raised his head, and Nicole peered into his eyes, allowing the swirling pools of rainbow light to soothe her. Unfortunately, the previous evening’s events still weighed heavily on her heart.

_ ‘Tiath is resting,’  _ Calamith said.  _ ‘She woke several times during the night.’ _

Nicole wasn’t surprised. Waverly had struggled to sleep as well, sweating and trembling in her embrace.  _ ‘For how long?’ _

Calamith sent a feeling of  _ I-don’t-know _ , and Nicole chewed her lower lip, struggling to make a decision. Her protective instincts urged her to remain beside her pregnant weyrmate, but would Waverly truly be safe anywhere as long as Tiath’s poisoner was out there? Perhaps the best way to protect Waverly and their unborn child was to catch the culprit.

Nicole forgot her indecisiveness when she noticed a figure crossing the hatching grounds. She recognized him instantly and sat up straight, doing her best not to disturb Waverly.

“Morning, J’hon.”

J’hon touched the brim of his riding cap. “Nicole. How are Waverly and Tiath this morning?

“About how you’d expect.” Nicole aimed a nervous glance at the pair. Waverly and her dragon slumbered on, undisturbed by the conversation.

J’hon stroked his stubbly chin with two fingers. “Wynonna has informed me of the poisoner’s methods. Gaining access to Tiath’s toothbrush without notice would have been exceptionally difficult.”

Nicole nodded. “Someone must have seen something suspicious. Maybe they just don’t know it?”

“My thoughts exactly. Wynonna has requested that X’vier and I interview the weyrfolk this morning.”

_ “Requested, _ huh?”

The corners of J’hon’s lips twitched into a smirk. “Our estimable weyrwoman may have raised her voice during a significant portion of the conversation. Nevertheless, X’vier and I are eager to get to the bottom of this.”

“Need any help?” Nicole asked. “Not doing anything is driving me crazy.”

“As a matter of fact, Wynonna assumed you might prefer to pay Ghost River Weyr a visit.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. Behind her, Calamith huffed in surprise.  _ ‘Does he mean we should speak with T’cker?’ _

_ ‘I don’t know,’ _ she thought to Calamith. Aloud, she said, “You’re telling me going to Ghost River was Wynonna’s idea?”

“Not only was it her idea, she insists,” J’hon said.

“She doesn’t want to go herself?”

J’hon sighed heavily. “What Wynonna wants and what Waverly will forgive her for doing are two different things entirely, I fear.”

That was true enough. If Wynonna rushed over to Ghost River astride gold Peseth, flamethrowers ablaze, and accused T’cker or any of the other weyrfolk of attempted murder, it could cause serious problems — not just with Weyrwoman Mercedes, but with Waverly herself.

“Won’t Waverly just get angry with me instead?”

“Indeed,” J’hon said, “but she will also forgive you more quickly. Wynonna’s past restrictions on Waverly, though well-meaning, have caused her to develop a certain… resistance.”

“You’re right. Better me than Wynonna.” Nicole stole a guilty look at Waverly. “Will you stay with her while I’m gone?”

J’hon offered a reassuring smile. “My dear Nicole, Ringeth and I will be her own personal watchwhers.”

Satisfied, Nicole placed a quick kiss on Waverly’s forehead and climbed to her feet. “Calamith?”

Calamith uncoiled his body from around Tiath’s, making sure the queen remained asleep on the sand.  _ ‘I don’t like this, Nicole. Guilty or not, T’cker and Spideth probably won’t talk to us.’ _

_ ‘That’s why we won’t talk to them directly,’  _ Nicole said.  _ ‘We’ll pay Weyrwoman Mercedes and Junior Weyrwoman Beth a visit instead.’ _

***

The flight to Ghost River was short without going Between, but Nicole took Calamith through anyway. Every second away from Purgatory, and Waverly, was a second she didn’t want to waste. The empty chill of Between raised wherrybumps on her forearms, but she hardly noticed her mild discomfort. A worse chill had clung to her since yesterday evening, one that no amount of warmth or sunlight couldn’t banish.

Her apprehension worsened as she and Calamith appeared over Ghost River Weyr’s entrance. Like Purgatory, the weyr was built into a pockmarked cliffside, but the peaks of its pale grey mountains were much taller. More ominous, too, especially while shrouded in morning mist. Condensation dripped down Nicole’s face, but she wiped it away with her glove, urging Calamith to land.

As the bronze touched down near Ghost River’s main entrance, Nicole noticed another dragon and rider waiting there: a sturdy brown, accompanied by an equally sturdy-looking gentleman with a fine bushy mustache. Although the brim of his riding cap was pulled down, Nicole recognized him on sight. “Wingleader N’dley,” she said, dismounting from Calamith and approaching her old mentor. “Good to see you.”

N’dley lifted his cap to meet Nicole’s eyes, offering a smile. “Nicole. I thought that was you and Calamith circling overhead.” They shared a warm embrace while Calamith and the brown bobbed their heads in greeting.

“How’s Sherifth?”

“Doing fine. We miss having you and Calamith as our Wingseconds.”

Sherifth crooned in agreement, lowering his head so Nicole could scratch his eye-ridges. She and N’dley had always been close, even before she had Impressed Calamith. He’d been one of the few to continue believing in her, despite her failure to Impress a string of green and gold eggs.

“So, what brings you to Ghost River?” N’dley asked in a more somber tone. “I assume it’s not for a visit.”

Nicole sighed, withdrawing her hand from Sherifth. “Unfortunately, no. We’ve had some trouble at Purgatory. I need to speak with Weyrwoman Mercedes as soon as possible.”

“I can arrange that,” N’dley said. “Mind telling me what kind of trouble?”

Nicole explained the situation as concisely as she could. N’dley listened, his expression shifting from surprise to deep concern. “Poison,” he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. “Coming from anyone else, I wouldn’t believe it. I’ve never heard of anyone trying to poison someone else’s dragon…”

“Before yesterday, I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

“You’re sure Waverly and Tiath are all right?”

The question gave Nicole pause. “That depends on your definition of ‘all right’. They aren’t sick anymore, if that’s what you mean.”

“Well, that’s something. Sherifth, tell Widoth that Nicole needs to speak with Weyrwoman Mercedes right away.” While the brown transmitted the message, N’dley leaned closer. “Do you think our weyr’s queens are at risk, too?”

“There’s no way to know for sure. Peseth wasn’t poisoned, as far as we can tell.”

“So, are you here because you want to warn Mercedes and Beth, or because you think someone from Ghost River might be involved?”

Nicole sighed. N’dley was a lot smarter than most people assumed, and plenty of bronzeriders underestimated him despite his rank of wingleader. Ghost River simply wasn’t as progressive as Purgatory when it came to appreciating the abilities of brownriders, blueriders, and greenriders — or female bronzeriders, for that matter, which was one of the many reasons Nicole had hoped to transfer.

“I’m keeping my options open. But before I go see Mercedes, what can you tell me about T’cker? What’s he been up to these past few months?”

N’dley frowned. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen much of the boy. He usually causes trouble around here, sniffing after greenriders who want nothing to do with him and Spideth. But these last few months…”

“Suspiciously quiet?” Nicole asked with a raised brow.

“Exactly.”

“And since he’s Mercedes’ kid brother…”

“Don’t you worry about that. Weyrwoman Mercedes knows the truth of things around here. In my opinion, she won’t be at all surprised to hear you suspect T’cker.”

Nicole blew a heavy puff air from her cheeks, letting it vibrate through her lips. “For the weyrwoman’s sake, let’s hope it’s him.” Surely Mercedes would struggle with the fallout of T’cker’s actions, but if Nicole managed to prove his involvement, it would mean the queens of Ghost River were unlikely to be in danger.

_ Let’s hope it’s just Tiath… Tiath. Waverly. I hope they’re all right without me… _

She squared her shoulders. “Okay, N’dley. Take me in, and we’ll get this over with.”

***

Waverly paced angrily along Tiath’s weyrledge, fists clenched, nails biting into her palms. “I can’t believe they left without telling us.”

At first, she’d been worried. Nicole had slipped away before she’d awakened, and Calamith had abandoned his watchful post — very uncharacteristic of both of them. When J’hon had explained the situation, however, she’d been angry. Angry at the two of them for abandoning her and Tiath, and even angrier at Wynonna for sending them.

“All these years, and she’s still trying to control my life…”

_ ‘They are only trying to protect you.’ _ Tiath stared at Waverly with yellow-tinged eyes, a worried color she rarely saw in her gold’s swirling irises.  _ ‘After what has happened, can you blame them?’ _

“Are you kidding? Absolutely!” Limbs thrumming with anger, Waverly kicked a small rock with the toe of her boot. It tumbled over the weyrledge, bouncing several times on its way down the mountain.

Tiath tilted her head.  _ ‘Was that really necessary?’ _

Waverly’s cheeks burned. Her reaction was bordering on immature, but she had good reason to be angry — and better to get it all out now, before Nicole and Calamith returned or Wynonna and Peseth dared to show their faces…

“Waverly?”

She turned at the sound of her name, tensing until she saw who had called. Weyrleader X’vier had exited her chambers, and he wore a look of concern not so different from Tiath’s.

“Hey, Dolls,” Waverly mumbled, using one of her sister’s fond nicknames.

X’vier offered a sympathetic smile. “Rough morning?”

“You said it.” Waverly folded her arms over her chest, staring out over the hatching sands as X’vier came to stand beside her. “What did you find out?”   


“Not as much as I’d hoped. All the weyrfolk say they haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.”

“That’s impossible,” Waverly insisted. “My dragon was poisoned! That’s definitely out of the ordinary. Someone must have seen something… anything…”

X’vier put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey, we’re not giving up yet. Maybe we aren’t asking the right questions.”

“Like?”

“Like where whoever poisoned Tiath got their flamestone. Dangerous stuff like that is difficult to get hold of.”

“Right. Where would you go if you needed some?”

“Well,” X’vier said, “there’s an abandoned firestone mine a few miles outside of Ghost River. They used it about a decade ago, until the remaining firestone was deemed unfit for dragons.”

Waverly’s skin prickled. That sounded promising. “Can we go there?”

X’vier held up his hands. “Wait a minute. You and Tiath—”

“You wait a minute,” Waverly said, more sharply than she’d intended. “Someone poisoned my dragon. You can’t expect me to just ignore that when we have a decent lead to follow up on. Besides, I’m Junior Weyrwoman. I outrank you, Mr. Weyrleader.”

To her surprise, X’vier laughed. “Technically, you don’t outrank me…” Waverly opened her mouth, but he continued before she could interrupt. “But if you’d let me finish, I was going to say that you and Tiath shouldn’t go alone. You have every right to investigate this, but you and Tiath might still be a target.”

Begrudgingly, Waverly admitted that he was right. “Will you and Lizanth go with us? To be honest, I’m the least mad at the two of you.”

“That was going to be my next suggestion.”

“Should we tell Wynonna?” Waverly asked, even though that was the last thing she felt like doing.

“She’s still doing interviews,” X’vier said. “And do you really want to give her the chance to say no?”

Waverly couldn’t help but grin. “You’re willing to run a secret mission with me behind Wynonna’s back? Whoa. You really do care.”

X’vier shrugged. “We’re burning through candlemarks here. As more people find out what happened to Tiath, word will spread. That means more time for the poisoner to cover his tracks. If we get bogged down in another disagreement with Wynonna…”

“Another stupid argument,” Waverly chimed in.

“I wouldn’t say stupid, but it will take time. And we don’t have much of that.”

Waverly still suspected X’vier was partially doing this to humor her, but she didn’t care. If it got her away from Purgatory and out investigating the mystery, that was good enough.  _ Besides, it’s Nicole’s turn to be worried about me for a change. _

Tiath trilled her agreement. ‘ _ If they don’t feel the need to tell us where they’re going, we don’t need to tell them, either.’ _

The fact that her gold was so on-board surprised Waverly a little. Tiath possessed an undeniable mischievous streak, and if her dragon liked the plan, that probably meant it was risky. On the other hand…

“Let’s go,” she said to X’vier, walking toward the cubby where she kept Tiath’s riding gear. “We’ll be there and back in two shakes of a tunnel snake’s tail.”

***

Nicole had always liked Weyrwoman Mercedes. Though not a particularly large or solidly-built woman, she had a certain aura, one that demanded attentiveness. Her positive attitude made Nicole appreciate her all the more. It was also good, in her opinion, for a ‘traditional’ weyr like Ghost River to have such a forward-thinking weyrwoman, one willing to question traditions that had outlived their usefulness.

Presently, though, Mercedes’ face was drawn with worry. Her eyes were wide, pleading, as though she desperately wished Nicole’s news wasn’t true, and yet accepted that it was somewhere deep inside. “I can’t wrap my head around it,” she murmured, looking more than a little heartbroken. “A queen poisoned… and you think my brother is responsible?”

“You don’t sound surprised,” Nicole said, as gently as she could.

Mercedes pinched the bridge of her forehead, as if to ward off a stress headache. “Surprised that T’cker might have gotten himself in more trouble? No. But poison?” She removed her hand, her expression hardening. “Queens are the lifeblood of our world. Without them, there are no more dragons, and without dragons…”

There was no need for Mercedes to continue. Without dragons, all of Pern would be devoured by thread in a matter of days. It was fortunate that the mostly-abandoned Southern Continent was currently getting the brunt of the fall, so they had time to deal with this mess. But the respite wouldn’t last. To harm a queen dragon was to wish death upon everyone and everything.

“We don’t have solid proof,” Nicole continued. “As much as I dislike T’cker — no offense — I won’t ask you to punish him without any.”

Mercedes offered Nicole a tired smile. “No offense taken. I know my brother can be difficult.”

_ That’s an understatement. _ Aloud, Nicole said, “But he’s still family, and part of your weyr.”

“Yes,” Mercedes sighed. “Nonetheless, I agree that we should talk to him. He doesn’t have as much respect for me as I’d like, I’m afraid, but he’ll be more willing to cooperate if I take the lead here.”

“I’d hoped you would,” Nicole said.

Mercedes rose from her chair at the head of the meeting table, smoothing down the front of her dress. “Very well. Let’s go see what he has to say for himself this time.”

They left the Ghost River council room and entered the hallway, climbing a stone staircase that coiled in circles. It led to the living quarters, where most of the bronzeriders had their weyrs.

“It’s after breakfast, and lunch isn’t for a few more hours,” Mercedes said. “In all likelihood, T’cker should be here, tending his dragon.”

Nicole hoped so. If T’cker were somewhere else, it could mean he was in hiding, plotting his next move. Hopefully, his arrogance would lead him to stay put.

As they left the staircase and entered another hallway, a distant thumping sound caught Nicole’s ears, dulled slightly as though it were coming from another room. She paused, listening intently, and looked at Mercedes, who seemed similarly started.

“That’s his room. Someone’s inside.” Mercedes rushed to a nearby door, which she opened without knocking. Nicole followed quickly, and as she peered over the weyrwoman’s shoulder, she gasped in surprise.

T’cker was indeed in his room, stuffing something into a travelling bag. He whirled as they entered, obviously startled, and his eyes darted down. Only then did Nicole notice a large hole at the foot of his bed. Several floorstones had been removed, revealing what appeared to be the mouth of a tunnel.

“Stop!” Nicole ordered, as Mercedes cried T’cker’s name.

T’cker didn’t respond. With a panicked look, he hopped into the hole, disappearing from view.

“Well, that screams guilty to me,” Nicole grumbled, preparing to dive in after him. Mercedes didn’t try and stop her. The weyrwoman seemed just as eager to catch up with T’cker as she was. They arrived at the bolthole together, and Nicole jumped down first.

***

“It’s actually kind of beautiful here.” Rather than stare into the abandoned mine’s dark mouth, Waverly gazed across the field outside the main entrance. Wildflowers bloomed everywhere, and a few wild runnerbeasts ambled across the landscape, seemingly unafraid of predators.

“It is,” X’vier agreed. He too admired the view for a moment before returning to the task at hand. “The tunnel’s too small for dragons. Lizanth and Tiath will have to wait out here.”

_ ‘Just as well,’  _ Tiath said.  _ ‘Someone should stand guard while the two of you investigate.’ _

Waverly gave her dragon a sad smile. She was equal parts pleased and dismayed that Tiath, who had been through so much in the past two days, was still prepared to look out for her. “Just let me know if you see anyone, my love. And take it easy, okay? You’re still recovering.”

_ ‘Actually, I feel much better. Purging that flamestone from my system has me feeling like a new dragon.’ _

Through their psychic bond, Waverly could sense the truth in Tiath’s statement. Her gold did seem perkier than she had in months. There was a spark of mischief in her eyes that Waverly had greatly missed, although it had taken her a little while to realize it was gone. The change had been so slow and subtle, and she’d attributed most of it to the fact that Tiath was about to lay her first clutch.

“That’s great news. You’ll be ready to rise again before you know it.”

Tiath made a coy rumbling noise that Waverly took as approval. With one last affectionate stroke of the gold’s graceful neck, she turned to the mine, mentally preparing herself to breach the darkness.

“Let me go first,” X’vier said, holding out a hand.

Waverly frowned. “Why?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. It’s because I’m the one who remembered to bring a torch.”

Grinning, X’vier withdrew an unlit torch from Lizanth’s saddlebags. He offered it to the bronze, who obliged with the tiniest puff of fire Waverly had ever seen. She had to admit, Lizanth’s control was impressive. Sometimes, she thought it was a shame that queens couldn’t chew regular firestone, although commanding all the other dragons and fighting thread with giant flamethrowers was fun in its own right.

With the torch lit, there was no more reason for delay. “Ready?” Waverly asked.

X’vier nodded. “Let’s go.”

As the two of them entered the mine, the beauty of the field outside faded away. Birdsong became too distant to hear, and the air grew stale. It was hot and dry — unsurprising, for a firestone mine. By the light of X’vier’s torch, Waverly noticed undisturbed tunnelsnake tracks on the floor, although they too looked old. Spinner cobwebs connected the human-made rafters and support beams that shored up the tunnel.

“Sure does look abandoned,” Waverly murmured, her voice dampened rather than amplified by the walls of the enclosed space.

X’vier nodded. The torch cast a reddish glow upon his dark skin, and the obvious worryline in his brow caused Waverly’s heart to race. “Let’s go a little further.”

They did, slowly and carefully. All Waverly’s senses remained keenly alert until, finally, she noticed something unusual at the edge of the torch’s flickering bubble of light. “X’vier, wait.”

He stopped, and the two of them backed up several steps, to a side-tunnel that branched off in a different direction. It was narrower than the main corridor, but a short distance ahead, Waverly saw what had grabbed her attention. Wooden barrels, several of them, lined up in a neat row.

She followed the narrow passageway in silence, with X’vier a few steps behind. Upon closer inspection, the barrels had no lids. Instead, they were full of water. The nearby wall had several small holes bored into it, and long metal tongs rested against it, along with a pickaxe and shovel.

X’vier crouched down to examine the tools. “No rust. Someone brought these here recently.”

“The water too,” Waverly added. “It would have evaporated long ago if this place was abandoned.” She dipped her fingertips in one of the barrels, flicking a few droplets of the lukewarm water toward one of the tiny holes. As she suspected, the stone spat and sizzled, bubbling with yellow froth until the water disappeared.

“Flamestone,” X’vier said. “Our hunch was right.”

Waverly started to reply, but a frightened voice shouted in her mind, so loud that she covered her ears on instinct.  _ ‘Waverly,’ _ Tiath cried,  _ ‘another gold is here!’ _

_ ‘Peseth?’ _

_ ‘No, it’s—’ _

“Waverly,” someone else said. Someone who was most definitely not X’vier. Someone whose voice sent a fearful and familiar shiver shooting down Waverly’s spine. “I knew you’d show up here sooner or later.”

Waverly took a stumbling step back. There, only a few yards away, stood a ghost. Or she might as well have been. After her years-long absence, Willa Earp had finally returned.


	8. Chapter 8

“Willa?”

A hundred questions raced through Waverly’s mind, but all she could form was one word: Willa.

_ Willa’s here. Not gone, or dead, or— _

“Don’t look so surprised.” Willa’s flat voice provided an eerie contrast to the eager shining of her eyes in the torchlight. “You knew I’d come back eventually, didn’t you?”

Some part of Waverly had always known, deep down, but no way would she admit it while Willa stared at her with such obvious superiority. “Where did you go?”

Willa tilted her head. “Hmm. I thought you’d ask why I left first.”

“I know why. So, where did you go?”

“Away,” Willa said. Waverly recognized her tone well. Willa had often used it when she assumed her little sister was too young to grasp her meaning. “You’ve changed while I was gone, and your Tiath has grown up.”

Hearing Tiath’s name on Willa’s lips turned Waverly’s stomach. Her instincts told her, without a shadow of a doubt, that Willa was responsible for everything that had happened to her beloved dragon. “No thanks to you. Why, Willa? Why would you hurt Tiath?”

Though Waverly’s voice cracked with emotion, Willa’s face showed none at all. “I’m not much for monologuing, but I’m sure even you can figure it out.”

“That’s enough.” The deep bass of X’vier’s voice startled Waverly at first. In the intensity of the moment, she’d forgotten he was there. Warmth swelled in her chest as she remembered she wasn’t alone. “Willa, you’re coming with us back to Purgatory. Waverly and Wynonna deserve an explanation.”

A fearsome smile curled the corners of Willa’s mouth, making her look almost like a dragon herself. “I can’t go back to Purgatory yet. There’s something I need to do first.”

Before Waverly could ask what, Tiath pulled at her mind. The call of her gold was strong, so primal that she couldn’t possibly ignore it. Without any warning, she was drawn into the vortex of Waverly-Tiath. Through new eyes, she saw something horrifying: Swaneth, Willa’s queen, streaking toward her like a shooting star in midday.

_ ‘Tiath, fly!’ _

With two beating hearts, Waverly-Tiath seized the sky, avoiding Swaneth’s dive at the last possible second. Swaneth’s landing shook the stone ledge outside the mine’s entrance, and rock crumbled beneath her claws. Her massive legs bunched as she prepared to launch herself upward again, and the many-faceted whorls of her eyes glowed red.

_ ‘Get away!’ _ one part of Waverly-Tiath shouted.

_ ‘She attacked us. Stay and fight!’ _

_ ‘It’s Swaneth. We can’t fight her…’ _

While Waverly-Tiath hovered, unsure, Swaneth hurtled straight for her.  _ ‘I am sorry,’ _ a weak and sadly familiar voice whispered in Waverly-Tiath’s mind.  _ ‘This is the only way.’ _

She didn’t understand. Dragons were almost never violent, especially to other dragons and riders. And Swaneth was her friend… but there was no time to be confused. The giant gold, twice her size at least, was shooting toward her with open jaws.

The only way out was up. Waverly-Tiath flew skyward at a steep angle. Her blood raced, and her lungs sucked in as much air as possible. Swaneth was only a few wingbeats behind.

A large bronze shape zoomed in from the left, crashing into Swaneth’s side. It was X’vier-Lizanth, and his roar echoed around the canyon-walled field between the cliffs. Though he, like Tiath, was only half Swaneth’s size, he made up for it with protective rage. He dug his claws into Swaneth’s hide and twisted his neck around hers.

Swaneth bucked and thrashed, making a mighty effort to free herself. X’vier-Lizanth’s claws scrabbled for purchase, but he managed to hang on.

_ ‘You. Will not. Hurt them.’ _

Somewhere beyond the bright blue sky outside the mine, Waverly could see a hazy shadow-world, one in which X’vier had gripped both of Willa’s arms and was trying to gain control of her. She knew she should help — her brain screamed for her to do something — but she could hardly comprehend what was happening. She had always known Willa resented her, even hated her. But Swaneth… she and Swaneth had been friends during her childhood. Dragons would do almost anything for their riders, but this? It wasn’t in their nature.

What was or wasn’t in a dragon’s nature didn’t matter. Swaneth twisted in Lizanth’s grip, delivering a powerful kick with her back legs. Lizanth tore away from her with a snapping motion. He reeled, struggling to regain his balance.

_ ‘Waverly, we must fight!’ _ Tiath insisted.

Tears streamed down Waverly’s face, but she understood the truth of her dragon’s words.

_ ‘Please, try not to kill her.’  _ But she knew they might not have a choice. Willa wouldn’t go quietly, and Swaneth would obey her rider’s commands to the end. Worse still, when riders died, their dragons never survived more than a few seconds afterward.

***

Thick, oppressive heat clung to Nicole’s skin as she ran along the tunnel. Her eyes strained against the darkness, searching for T’cker, but all she had to go on was the slapping of his boots some distance ahead. She picked up her pace, stumbling on the uneven floor. It seemed freshly dug. Loose piles of earth had been shoved off to either side of the passageway, leaving a clear path in the middle.

_ ‘Nicole, where are you going?’ _ Calamith asked.

_ ‘Don’t know. As soon as I do, come find me.’ _

He waited obediently for a picture, but Nicole sensed his tension in her own body as she jogged ahead. Luckily, the tunnel had no branches. It was a straight shot—

“Oof!”

Pain shot through Nicole’s stomach as a bunched fist dug into her gut. She reeled, hunching over as T’cker’s shadowy form appeared in front of her. He must have pressed himself against the wall and waited in the darkness.

“Nicole,” T’cker drawled, an arrogant smirk on his face. “I’ve waited a long time for—ahh!”

She shut him up with the strongest uppercut she could manage. It wasn’t perfect, but it was more than powerful enough to make him yelp and scramble back. If she’d been able, she would have laughed. If T’cker had thought one hit would take her out, he’d been sorely mistaken.

For his part, T’cker seemed to have second thoughts about his plan. His pale face pulled in fear, and he barely dodged the knee Nicole aimed at his groin. He swung another sloppy punch, but her follow-up was faster. She grabbed him by his shirt and looped an arm around his throat, pulling him into a headlock.

T’cker flailed and sputtered, but Nicole was stronger. “Tell me the truth,” she hissed in his ear. “Did you poison Tiath?” He merely wheezed, so she loosened her hold the slightest bit. “This is the last time I’ll ask. Did you poison Waverly’s dragon?”

“Y—yes... but…”

“But? There is no but. Either you did, or you didn’t.”

Rather than answer, T’cker laughed. It was a hoarse, croaking sound, and it turned Nicole’s stomach.

“What are you doing?”

Weyrwoman Mercedes’ voice echoed through the passageway, and Nicole’s eyes darted in search of her. That proved to be a mistake. T’cker took advantage of Nicole’s distraction, elbowing her in the ribs close to where his earlier blow had landed. It was a desperate hit, and painful enough to make her lose her grip. T’cker squirmed away, disappearing down the tunnel once more.

Nicole huffed, curling a protective arm around her midsection as Mercedes caught up.

“What happened?”

“He confessed,” Nicole coughed, her voice sounding little better than T’cker’s.

She waited for Mercedes to argue the point — she’d had T’cker in a compromised position, after all — but the weyrwoman accepted the situation with grim solemnity. “Can you still follow him?”

Nicole nodded.

“I’ll rejoin Widoth and tell Wingleader N’dley to gather my bronzeriders.”

“All right. Hurry.”

“I will.”

Mercedes hurried back down the tunnel, leaving Nicole to push through her pain. Fortunately, it faded fast. She’d had much worse injuries during threadfall. With a few more heavy breaths, she gathered the strength to continue the chase.

_ “Nicole!” _

The sudden shriek of Calamith’s voice in her head was accompanied by an abrupt pang deep in her belly. At first she thought her mild injury was reasserting itself, but it wasn’t pain. It was desire, stabbing through her like a red-hot poker.

_ Oh no. _

Though her mind remained blurred by confusion, Nicole’s body knew exactly what was happening. She shuddered, and her cock swelled, straining against her riding leathers. A queen was about to rise — and not just any queen. Somehow, her instincts knew that it was her queen, Waverly-Tiath, and no other.

***

Waverly-Tiath lashed out, scoring Willa-Swaneth’s side. She knew she should be afraid, but her heart held no fear. She was a bolt of lightning, a streaking comet, a shining star destined to overpower everything in her orbit. She was the beginning and end of the universe, and no one — not even Willa-Swaneth, easily more than twice her size — could stand against her glory.   
  
But the part of her that was Waverly had doubts.  _ ‘We don’t want to hurt them. Just stop them.’ _   
  
_ ‘They attacked us first. We are the superior queen. We will fight and win, and all dragons will worship our beauty.’ _   
  
Tiath could not be denied. Waverly tried, but it was useless. As she fell further and further into Tiath, she realized with horror that something else lurked beneath her battlerage. _ Desire. _ The desire to fly far and fast. To touch heights no one else could hope to reach. To show Willa-Swaneth, and all the puny bronzes on Pern, that she was not a queen to be underestimated.   
  
_ ‘Wait, bronzes?’ _

The only bronze nearby was X’vier-Lizanth. He stared at Tiath with glowing yellow eyes, consumed by surprise and fear. Willa-Swaneth, who had an opening to attack him, did not. She stared at Tiath as well, equally taken aback.   
  
_ ‘It seems the flamestone wore off sooner than expected, little sister,’  _ Willa-Swaneth said, in a layered voice that tended more toward Willa’s cold manner of speech.  _ ‘Too bad you won’t get a second chance to rise after all.’ _   
  
Waverly-Tiath screeched her indignity to the skies. Willa-Swaneth’s challenge was offensive enough, but threatening to take from her the most important of a queen’s nature-given rites? It would not stand.

They collided in a mass of wings and claws. Willa-Swaneth proved shockingly strong, but Waverly-Tiath was prepared. She summoned her agility, twisting beneath the giant gold’s bulk to bite the underside of her throat. One of Willa-Swaneth’s wings buffeted her head, preventing her from getting a solid grip, and almost sending her reeling.

_ ‘Her wing!’ _ A dragon with a serious wing injury was as good as beaten. She snapped at Willa-Swaneth’s wing, tasting coppery blood around her teeth.

Willa-Swaneth shrieked. She attempted to disengage, but that only worsened her situation. When that failed, she reared, striking at Waverly-Tiath with jaws open wide. Her teeth pierced Waverly-Tiath’s shoulder. Pain clouded her vision, and she was forced to let go.

_ ‘Tiath, get out of there!’ _

_ ‘They hurt us! They cannot be allowed to live.’ _

_ ‘We’re injured—’ _

_ ‘So is she. And we have X’vier-Lizanth.’ _

As if summoned, the bronze attacked Willa-Swaneth again, going for the same wing Waverly-Tiath had torn. Willa-Swaneth thrashed out of his grip, but not easily.   
  
Deep within the mine, Waverly fought past the pain in her shoulder and tried to seize control of her dragon. Subduing Tiath, however, was practically impossible. This was nothing like the first time, when she had forced Tiath to obey while blooding the herdbeasts. The gold was determined to defend her wounded pride, avenge the clutch she’d never laid, and ensure Waverly’s safety.

While Waverly tried to wrest the mental reins, X’vier-Lizanth let out an agonized bellow. Willa-Swaneth had taken him by the throat, and tore without a shred of hesitation. That spurred Waverly-Tiath to move. She dove to the bronze’s defense, but as she did, another roar, mightier than any she’d ever heard, echoed across the field, amplified by the canyon’s walls.

The whorls of Waverly-Tiath’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the new arrival: Peseth, glittering golden vengeance beneath the beating sun. Wynonna had to be somewhere close by.

_ ‘Sister!’ _

_ ‘Mother!’ _

Wynonna-Peseth dove for Willa-Swaneth with unbelievable speed. The queens collided, and X’vier-Lizanth fell, his wings curled inward like crumpled parchment.

Waverly-Tiath changed course to break his fall. His heavy body sent a shock through hers, but she managed to slow his descent. He regained the ability to fly only a few yards above the ground, and landed solidly, if not gracefully, on the grassy field. He laughed despite the wound in his proud serpentine neck.

_ ‘I pity anyone who harms Wynonna’s sister and Peseth’s daughter, let alone their weyrmates.’ _

Overhead, Willa-Swaneth and Wynonna-Peseth were engaged in a fierce battle. Although she couldn’t measure up to Swaneth’s size, Peseth was much larger than Tiath, and matched the bigger queen’s every blow with one of her own.

Waverly-Tiath felt pulled in two different directions. She needed to help Peseth, and to defeat the queen who had so wronged her, but another urge rose within her, one that would not be denied.

_ Fly. Fly now. _

_ No! Stay and fight! _

_ Fly as far as you can— _

_ We can’t leave them! _

_ Rise. Rise to mate, so we will lay the eggs we are owed. _

Waverly-Tiath wailed in frustration, unable to do anything at all, until someone called out from the distance.

_ ‘Go, babygirl. I’ve got this.’ _

It was Wynonna-Peseth, and in both of her voices, Waverly-Tiath heard nothing but conviction. This fight had been a long time coming, and it was about more than just her. It was for the future of Purgatory itself.

Waverly gritted her teeth, doing everything she could to resist. She wouldn’t leave Wynonna, she wouldn’t leave X’vier, and she wouldn’t even think of letting Tiath rise without their weyrmates.  _ ‘No! Not without Nicole-Calamith!’ _

“Waverly?”

The sound of her name helped Waverly ground herself in the cave for a moment. X’vier was braced against one wall, doubled over with sweat running down his face. Willa stood just where she had been before, shoulders pulled back in challenge, eyes glazed over as she focused on the battle outside.

But they weren’t the ones who had spoken. Another figure had entered the tunnel, standing close enough to exhale hot breath on the back of her neck, speaking in a voice that sent invisible spiders crawling down Waverly’s spine.

“T’cker?”

***

_ ‘Where is she?’ _ Nicole demanded with rising panic. Waverly-Tiath’s lust had seized her in its grip, but she had no idea where to go or what to do.

Fortunately, Calamith could sense exactly where his queen was, and by extension, where Waverly was as well.  _ ‘Close. I will go Between to Tiath. Keep going forward to Waverly’ _

Nicole did so, valiantly ignoring the bulge at the front of her pants. This had to be the  _ most  _ inconvenient time for Tiath to rise, but dragons rarely obeyed human conventions.

Around the next corner, the tunnel widened. Wooden boards shored up the loose earthen walls, and a sour smell hit Nicole’s nose.  _ Flamestone. _ This had to be where T’cker had come by his supply. She squinted into the darkness, but couldn’t make him out ahead of her.

_ If he lays a single hand on Waverly, I’ll rip his whole arm off. _

Under other circumstances, Nicole might have been unsettled by such uncharacteristically violent thoughts. In this moment, they felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Around the next corner, the tunnel changed yet again. It was crowded with water barrels, picks, and — shadowy shapes? Four figures stood near each other, three of whom she recognized. One was her Waverly. The second was T’cker, standing behind her like a pale, ghoulish shadow. Third was X’vier: injured, her instincts said. And one was…

Nicole thought she knew who the last woman was, although they’d never met in person, but those suspicions were drowned beneath a tidal wave of rage. T’cker had taken a lock of Waverly’s hair in his hands and buried his nose in it.

Suddenly, she was with Calamith, soaring over a shallow, crooked canyon. A lush green field lay nestled within, but it was anything but peaceful. Above, two mighty queens battled, clashing together in a blur of gold.

_ Not Tiath. _

A small part of Nicole’s mind screamed that she should care. One of those dragons was Peseth, Purgatory’s senior queen. It was a bronze’s duty to protect their queen with their life. But Tiath was also their queen. She hovered a few yards off the ground, protecting the curled-up form of Lizanth, glowing with unnatural brightness.

From the opposite direction, another bronze was fast approaching. It was Spideth, and even from far away, Nicole-Calamith sensed his intent. He meant to fly Tiath. He meant to steal their mate.

They bared their teeth, roaring in challenge. Tiath’s head snapped up, and she arched with captivating grace, as if to greet her suitors. Then, she recoiled, hissing with rage. Her eyes, which had been an amorous purple, glowed blood red as she launched herself into the air.

Nicole-Calamith flew after her. While Spideth tucked his wings for a steep dive, Nicole told Calamith to remain level. Waverly-Tiath was climbing at an incredible rate, and she would soon surpass them both.

Calamith and Spideth weren’t the only ones who followed. In the midst of her battle with Peseth, Swaneth noticed the smaller queen soaring higher and higher. She disengaged, throwing Peseth aside with a sideways roll. Once they were no longer tangled together, she streaked off, pursuing Tiath like a fire lizard after a fy-by.

_ ‘You will  _ not _ rise!’ _ the queen shouted in all of their minds.

Nicole-Calamith pumped their wings faster. They would not allow anyone to catch Waverly-Tiath but them, whether to mate her or bring her down from the sky.

Soon, all four uninjured dragons had joined the chase. Willa-Swaneth’s sheer size gave her an advantage, but Nicole-Calamith pushed themselves to their limit. This would not be a test of speed. They needed to take out the competition, or there would be no mating flight.

Fortunately, they had an ally in Wynonna-Peseth. She managed to intercept T’cker-Spideth, knocking him off-course. He lashed out in retaliation, which gave Nicole-Calamith the chance to gain precious ground. They put on a burst of speed, pushing through the rapid pounding of their heart and the shortness of their shared breaths.

Just ahead, Willa-Swaneth remained focused on Tiath. She wasn’t even paying attention to her rear. As soon as Nicole-Calamith caught up, they seized the opportunity. They swooped beneath the large gold, flipping onto their back and raking their claws along her vulnerable belly.

Swaneth roared, and Willa’s pained cries echoed in the cave, piercing Nicole’s ears. Dimly, she realized the two of them were locked in a struggle along with their dragons. She’d scratched Willa’s face and torn through part of her dress.

Something cracked against the back of Nicole’s skull. Stars swirled around her head, and she stumbled, shoving Willa back into the cave wall. T’cker had punched her while she was distracted. She whirled on him, but didn’t need to defend herself. Wynonna had leapt onto his back and wrapped both arms around his throat.

Nicole stared, bewildered.  _ ‘Wynonna? When did she get here?’ _

_ ‘Mine,’ _ Calamith shouted,  _ ‘we must concentrate!’ _

Through Calamith’s eyes, Nicole saw Peseth engaged in a fierce battle with Swaneth and Spideth. The other bronze had seemed to realize he wouldn’t stand a chance of catching Tiath while two other angry queens raged in the skies. Nicole-Calamith searched for Tiath, who was speeding further and further away.

_ ‘Go after her.’ _

_ ‘No. Stay and fight!’ _

Through sheer force of will, Nicole-Calamith dove toward the fray. For once, they agreed with T’cker-Spideth. There would be no mating flight until this was resolved.

Before Nicole-Calamith could rejoin the fight, Spideth surprised them. Trapped between the two enraged queens, he struck — not at Peseth, but at Swaneth, during a moment when her back was unprotected. She whirled on him, screeching with such fury that it gave even Nicole-Calamith pause.

_ ‘How  _ dare _ you?’ _

_ ‘You said she would be mine!’  _ T’cker-Spideth roared.  _ ‘You said if I gave her flamestone, she would rise again early, and I would get to fly her!’ _

_ ‘Your little crush isn’t important right now. This is about so much more!’ _

Wynonna-Peseth seized the opportunity, closing her mighty jaws around Swaneth’s throat.  _ ‘Now!’ _ she ordered.

Nicole-Calamith rushed to her aid. They shouldered Spideth aside, helping Peseth drag Swaneth groundward. She went down writhing, and not before tearing through the membrane of Calamith’s wing.

Nicole-Calamith’s vision turned white. They nearly lost their grip, but hung on through desperation. The pain was as bad as threadscore, maybe worse, and it wasn’t going away. Every time they beat their wings, it surged anew, coursing through the left side of their body.

_ ‘Calamith, watch out!’ _

Despite the warning, the bronze didn’t manage to pull up in time. All three of them — Calamith, Swaneth, and Peseth — hit the ground together, tearing up clods of grass and earth. Nicole found herself on the cold cave floor, wet blood running down her left arm. From what she could see of the wound, it looked like Willa had actually  _ bitten _ out a chunk of her flesh.

Willa was worse off. Her eyes were closed, although she continued breathing shallowly. Wynonna sat beside her, propped up on one elbow, but obviously dazed. A deep gash on her forehead leaked blood down her brow. “Waverly,” she rasped, wiping it away. “Where’s Waverly?”

Nicole didn’t know. Neither did Calamith. They looked, only to see a horrifying sight: T’cker held Waverly in a looming embrace, while in the distant sky, Spideth rapidly closed in on his prey.


	9. Chapter 9

Waverly struggled in T’cker’s grip, snatching one arm free and curling it around her belly. His touch repulsed her human side, and her instincts demanded she protect her unborn child.

The dragon part of her had other ideas. Tiath’s lust had seeped into her bones, creating a yawning void within her that yearned to be filled. She searched frantically through Tiath’s eyes, but saw no sign of Calamith. Meanwhile, Spideth drew closer and closer, slicing through the air like a knife.

_ ‘Tiath, no!’ _

Tiath glanced back coyly, sizing Spideth up.  _ ‘He flies well.’ _

_ ‘His rider poisoned you,’ _ Waverly reminded her.

That got through to Tiath at last. The lust roiling in her gut became a blazing rage, and she wheeled around, not to join Spideth in a lover’s embrace, but to drive him off. Spideth recoiled, surprised by the rejection. Waverly seized her chance, shoving T’cker away and breaking free of his grip.

The connection between Waverly and Tiath strengthened, uniting them in fury.  _ ‘They poisoned us. Took our clutch. Hurt our weyrmate. They will pay.’ _ She streaked toward Spideth, a golden arrow piercing the clouds. He dodged, but not before she clipped his side.

_ ‘What are you doing?’ _ T’cker-Spideth roared.  _ ‘We are your only choice.’ _ He tried to twine his body around hers, but Waverly-Tiath shook him off like the annoying insect he was.

_ ‘We would rather choose death!’ _

T’cker-Spideth attempted to close in, but Waverly-Tiath held him at bay. She lashed out with every ounce of strength in her body. Dimly, she realized she should be shocked by her own actions. Queens  _ never _ turned away suitors when they rose, no matter how distasteful. Nevertheless, she had meant what she said. She  _ would _ rather die than submit to this foul tunnelsnake.

But Waverly-Tiath was tiring rapidly. She had spent a significant amount of strength fighting Swaneth, and there was little left. Each attack she launched was slower, less sharp. T’cker-Spideth started dodging more easily, and though he bled from several shallow injuries, he was far from defeated.

_ ‘Be careful,’ _ Waverly told Tiath.  _ ‘He’s trying to tire us out.’ _

_ ‘He is succeeding.’ _

Waverly-Tiath summoned her anger once more, but it was a losing battle. Her wounds wore on her, and since she hadn’t gotten to blood any herdbeasts, she had no other source of energy to draw upon. She gathered herself for one final charge, but Spideth was faster. He darted out of reach, and while she struggled through a clumsy turn, he came at her from above, hooking his limbs around hers.

_ ‘No!’ _

The air in front of them rippled like oil on water, and a brilliant bronze shape burst out of nowhere. Waverly-Tiath felt the chill of Between wash over her, but it only lasted a moment. Next thing she knew, Calamith collided with both of them, sending her spinning outward and away from Spideth.

Through her shock, Waverly-Tiath felt a wave of relief. Her weyrmate had come.

***

Nicole-Calamith stared into the sky, watching helplessly as Tiath held Spideth at bay. She fought fiercely, but even from a distance, they could tell their queen was flagging. No matter how brightly her spirit burned, she would not be able to defend herself much longer.

_ ‘We need to fly,’ _ Nicole said.

_ ‘Can’t.’ _

The pain in Calamith’s wing throbbed through her own arm, but Nicole ignored it.  _ ‘They need us. Fly, Calamith!’ _

Calamith opened his wings, and white-hot agony consumed him. He closed them immediately, roaring in frustration.  _ ‘Argh! It hurts like threadscore.’ _

A solution clicked into place.  _ ‘Calamith, go Between.’ _ Calamith responded with an outcry of confused emotion, but Nicole encouraged him.  _ ‘It’s not cheating. They’re fighting, not flying.’ _

That soothed Calamith’s reluctance. No bronze on Pern would dare disobey the rules of a mating flight by going Between, but this was no flight. That had already been ruined, leaving Waverly-Tiath to fight for her life.

Nicole-Calamith pictured the empty space next to the two dueling dragons, then vanished into the nothingness.

Between was cold. So very, very cold. Ice ate through the fire in Calamith’s wing, bringing a blissful numbness. Although Nicole wasn’t on Calamith’s back, she held her breath anyway.  _ One… two… three…  _

They popped in right beside the fray. Buoyed by his temporary relief, Calamith managed a few awkward flaps of his wings, hurling himself between Tiath and Spideth.

Spideth wasn’t expecting the attack. He reeled, and his slow, clumsy recovery gave Tiath and Calamith plenty of time to finish him. They closed in together, and two deep bites caused Spideth to squeal in pain. He fell away, spiraling downward through the air at an alarming speed. There would be no recovery.

Nicole-Calamith didn’t bother watching where he landed. Waverly-Tiath was still glowing a brilliant gold, pulsing with the desire to mate. They couldn’t chase her in their current condition, but if they acted quickly, they could catch her.

To their surprise, Waverly-Tiath didn’t fly away. She pressed her body against theirs, positioning herself underneath and twining her neck with theirs.  _ ‘We will try again,’  _ she said,  _ ‘and this time, I will lay your clutch.’ _

Her pronouncement filled Nicole-Calamith with fierce pride. They wound themselves around their queen, making every effort to get as close as possible. Back in the cave, Nicole had forgotten all her pain. T’cker was unconscious on the ground, and she held Waverly in her arms. She brushed Waverly’s loose hair aside to kiss her neck, sliding a hand under the hem of her dress and up along her bare leg.

Waverly’s inner thighs were already slick with wetness. She was positively dripping, and beneath her undergarments, Nicole’s fingers found a warm pool of arousal with a seemingly endless supply. She rubbed the swollen bundle of Waverly’s clit, rejoicing in the way her weyrmate’s cries echoed throughout the cave.

_ ‘Inside,’ _ Waverly pleaded through Tiath.

Nicole knew she didn’t mean with fingers. She fumbled with the buttons of her fly, grunting in frustration. It was difficult to perform fine motor skills while part of her was linked with Calamith, especially because her dragon had no such obstacles. He and Tiath were already mating, leaving Nicole desperate to catch up.

Soon, she had Waverly pressed face first into the wall. It was a struggle to be gentle, but she remained ever mindful of her weyrmate’s swollen belly, making sure not to squish her. Once she was certain Waverly had her bearings, with both palms braced on the stone, Nicole bunched up the back of her dress, yanked down her smallclothes, and pulled her thighs apart.

Sinking inside was pure bliss. Without any more barriers to overcome, Nicole could fully surrender to how good it felt, and to her bond with Calamith. Waverly-Tiath was hot and tight, and moving inside her caused their length to twitch. They might have come in just a few strokes, if they hadn’t felt another powerful need — the need to prove that this stunning queen was truly theirs and theirs alone.

Waverly-Tiath was in total agreement. She rolled her body in an attempt to make every thrust count, using what little range of motion she had to tremendous effect. Nicole-Calamith struggled to contain themselves. Their entire world had narrowed to one desire, a single goal: to fill Waverly-Tiath with everything they had.

***

Waverly-Tiath had forgotten just how large and rough Nicole-Calamith could be. Normally, their lovemaking was tender and sweet, but now wasn’t the time for gentleness. This was about possession. About mutual ownership of each other. About  _ breeding _ .

For a moment, the intensity was too great. Waverly found herself adrift in the vast ocean of Tiath’s lust, without a single star to guide her. But Nicole’s voice whispered beside her ear, and sure fingers slid on either side of her clit, rubbing through its hood. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got you.”

The only response Waverly could possibly give to Nicole’s reassurance was pure joy. She surrendered to her dragon’s passion, allowing the tempest to carry her where it would. When the storm died down, she knew exactly where she would find herself: in her weyrmate’s loving arms.

Each thrust passed through Waverly-Tiath’s body with the force of a thundershock, but she was eager to absorb that power. Despite her exhaustion, she craved this more than anything. In fact, if Nicole-Calamith didn’t continue thrusting within her  _ just like that _ , she was fairly certain she might die of disappointment.

She gritted her teeth, delighting in the magical way her pain transformed into pleasure. She was still sore from battle, but her body hummed with energy. Nicole-Calamith’s girth stretched her to the absolute limit, but the sharp sting brought only ecstasy. She needed  _ more _ . More fullness, more depth, more movement.

_ ‘Fill me.’ _

_ ‘We will.’ _

Calamith’s serpentine tongue flicked beside Tiath’s face, while Nicole sank her teeth into Waverly’s shoulder. Both queen and rider cried aloud, clenching down as if to keep their mate within them forever. As delightful as the wet, sliding friction felt, each withdrawal caused pangs of loss deep within her belly.

After only a few more savage strokes, Waverly-Tiath came. She had no reason to hold back, and her relief at being caught by her beloved weyrmate rather than the horrendous T’cker-Spideth only heightened her emotions. In Nicole-Calamith’s embrace, she felt more than safe enough to let go.

The currents that whipped through her brought with them a tide of wetness. Waverly spilled a warm flood around Nicole’s cock, while Tiath screamed to the heavens. Now  _ these _ were a worthy bronze and rider! Worthy enough to worship at the sacred temple of her body.

Although the waves of Waverly-Tiath’s release lasted a long time, Nicole-Calamith showed no signs of stopping, even after it ended. Considering all they had endured, their strength should have faded, but they plunged onward through force of will. Waverly-Tiath allowed herself to be rocked by the frantic motions, Waverly with her hands splayed on the cave wall, Tiath in Calamith’s secure grip.

She could sense, somehow, that her weyrmate would come soon. Nicole-Calamith’s length throbbed with fullness, and the rhythm of their hips became jerkier. More needful. Their eagerness to spend caused Waverly-Tiath’s walls to flutter again. She longed for the rush of Nicole-Calamith’s seed within her, the burst of heat that would flood her deepest places, and…

_ ‘This time,’ _ Nicole-Calamith said,  _ ‘we promise to make sure both of you are pregnant.’ _

Despite the child she already carried in her belly, Waverly shared every bit of Tiath’s crowing delight. The desire to clutch was no less strong because it had originated in her gold, and she relished it to the fullest.  _ ‘Yes,’ _ she hissed, arching herself to offer Nicole-Calamith the best possible angle.

With one final thrust, Nicole-Calamith reached their peak. They froze, then released with a triumphant roar, emptying themselves in sharp spurts one after another.

After such a display, Waverly-Tiath couldn’t help but join them. She welcomed her second climax, shuddering at the sensation of Nicole-Calamith’s come rushing within her. The short strokes they used battered a swollen spot on her front wall, and she shrieked each time her weyrmate’s cockhead dragged against it.

By the time it ended, Waverly could barely hold herself up. Her limbs trembled with happy exhaustion, and proof of their mutual pleasure dripped down her thighs. Nicole held her close, smearing kisses onto the back of her neck. “Got you,” she said, rocking them both through the aftershocks. “Got you.”

Waverly smiled, then laughed. Later, the weight of all this would surely crash down on her, but in this moment, she was content to ride the blissful high. They had defeated T’cker-Spideth and Willa-Swaneth, and Nicole-Calamith had mated her once more. They had  _ won. _

***

Nicole heaved a deep sigh, letting the tension melt from her strained muscles. The length of her cock continued twitching in the warm embrace of Waverly’s walls, but the urgent need to mate and claim had eased — for now, anyway. Slowly, it dawned on her that they were not alone in the cave, and that they still had unfinished business. She withdrew quickly, tucking herself into her pants and buttoning her fly.

“Don’t,” Waverly murmured, but as her dress fell back down, she too seemed to recall the situation they were in. She pushed herself away from the wall, turning with wide, fearful eyes.

To Nicole’s immense relief, Wynonna and X’vier seemed stable at first glance. X’vier’s eyes were glazed, as though he wasn’t fully aware of his surroundings, but his breathing was steady, and Wynonna was there, wrapping his injuries in a strip of cloth torn from her shirt.

“Welcome back, perverts,” she said, with a reckless grin that was half-exasperated, half-exhausted.

Waverly averted her eyes, and her cheeks flushed pink.

“Don’t, Wynonna,” Nicole said, wrapping her good arm around Waverly’s shoulder. “She’s been through enough.”

Wynonna’s smile faded. “She has. You okay, babygirl?”

“I’m fine. What about Dolls?”

“You hear that?” Wynonna asked him, with an amount of tenderness Nicole rarely saw from her. “Waverly’s worried about you.”

X’vier made a rasping sound, but his eyes darted toward them and came into focus for a moment. “Wuh…”

“Don’t try and talk,” Wynonna said, stroking his head. “You’re gonna be fine.” X’vier sighed, slumping into her arms.

“He needs a healer,” Nicole said. “Our dragons, too.” She sensed through her bond with Calamith that he and Tiath has found a temporary perch on the cliffside, but once the lingering effects of the mating flight wore off, they would need medical attention.

“Right,” Wynonna agreed. “First, do me a favor and check on tunnelsnakes one and two.”

Though she was loath to leave Waverly, Nicole did as Wynonna asked. T’cker lay eerily still, and when Nicole bent down to check his pulse, she didn’t find one. That made her feel all sorts of ways. Her battlerage and lust had faded, but she was still furious with him for attempting to harm Waverly. She wasn’t sure whether she preferred him dead, or wished he’d lived so he could endure punishment.

“He’s gone,” Nicole said, standing back up.  _ At least Waverly never has to worry about him again. _

“Willa isn’t.”

Nicole turned to see Waverly crouched by her eldest sister. When she looked up, Nicole noticed tears shining in her eyes.

“Waverly—”

“Stop.” Waverly clenched her jaw. “I don’t care what she said.”

Nicole knelt by Waverly’s side anyway, cupping her face in both hands. “You never did  _ anything  _ to make her hate you like she does.”

Waverly closed her eyes, a few tears escaping, until Wynonna chimed in. “She’s right, Waves. I’m the one who snatched Purgatory out from under Willa. You were just a way to get back at me.”

“You’d better not say you’re sorry,” Waverly told Wynonna, with a rough break in her voice. More tears squeezed out, and she sniffed, wiping them away with her sleeve.

“Not unless you want me to,” Wynonna said.

Loud footsteps echoed throughout the cave, bringing the conversation to an abrupt end. Several figures ran into the chamber at once, causing Nicole’s head to snap up. Instinctively, she rose and positioned herself between them and Waverly.

There was no need to be protective. The new arrivals turned out to be Weyrwoman Mercedes, Wingleader N’dley, and another familiar, if surprising, face. “J’hon,” Nicole said, smiling with gratitude.

Wynonna looked even more pleased to see him. “You’re late, babe. You missed the party.”

J’hon looked at X’vier, Willa, and T’cker’s body, then let out a loud puff of air that caused the hairs of his mustache to quiver. “I apologize for my tardiness, although I do believe this is a party I am glad I did not attend.”

Weyrwoman Mercedes edged cautiously toward T’cker’s still form. “Is he…?”

“Yes,” Nicole said. Perhaps T’cker’s death was preferable after all. Not only would Waverly feel much safer, but Mercedes couldn’t insist on deciding his punishment.

“I thought so. My bronzeriders told Widoth there was no sign of Spideth.” She looked at her dead brother, slowly shaking her head. “This is the last mess of yours I’m going clean up.”

“What about Swaneth?” Waverly asked. She struggled to push herself up, and Nicole hurried to help.

A guilty look flashed across Wynonna’s face. “She’s gone, babygirl. I’m sorry.”

“Gone?” Waverly said, her voice tight with grief. “You mean…”

Wynonna bowed her head. “She went Between after Tiath started her flight.”

Nicole felt a spike of pity — not for Willa, but for Swaneth. She had merely been trying to please her rider, as all dragons did.  _ Maybe it’s better this way. Swaneth won’t have to suffer Willa’s punishment along with her. The poor queen deserved a nobler rider. _

Waverly’s throat bobbed, as though she were fighting back more tears. She opened her mouth, but didn’t speak. Nicole pulled her into a comforting embrace, stroking her back and kissing her hair. “She’s free now, baby. Willa can’t make her do anything to hurt you again.”

“I—I know,” Waverly said between hiccuping sobs, but that didn’t stop her from crying. “She was… she was my friend…”

“She was,” Nicole murmured. “I’m glad she was your friend.”

Over Waverly’s shoulder, she noticed Mercedes and N’dley removing T’cker’s body from the floor. She deliberately held Waverly’s face into her chest so she wouldn’t have to watch. Meanwhile, several of Mercedes’ bronzeriders took charge of Willa, while J’hon assisted Wynonna, helping her lift X’vier to his feet.

“So, shall we depart from this unsavory place?” J’hon said. “There is nothing left for us here.”

“Give us a minute.” Nicole continued holding Waverly, rocking her back and forth. “Hey,” she whispered beside her weyrmate’s ear. “Guess what?”

Waverly sniffed loudly. “What?”

“Calamith just flew Tiath. And she doesn’t have flamestone in her system anymore.”

Just as Nicole hoped, Waverly’s face brightened. She wiped her weyrmate’s tears away and cupped her chin, drawing her in for a soft, chaste kiss. It was a kiss of joy and gratitude, because the two of them had survived: and because sunlight had finally broken through the dark clouds that had hung over their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things about my decision making process:
> 
> I wrote a draft where T'cker lived and Spideth died, but that didn't feel right. Mostly because, well, he hurt Waverly and made her feel extremely unsafe. Honestly? I think Waverly will be much happier knowing he's fucking dead and can't try to hurt her anymore.
> 
> I left Willa alive, without Swaneth, because losing one's dragon is pretty much the greatest suffering one can endure on Pern. In fact, dragonriders rarely survive the severing of the bond (T'cker didn't survive Spideth's death)... and dragons never do. They always go Between if their rider dies.
> 
> Also, if I DID want to do a sequel one day (I still haven't explained where Bobo and Rosita are), having Willa alive could make things interesting. But I have a big Korrasami fic to write first.
> 
> Last but not least: one more chapter to go!


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this has been a wild ride! Thanks for sticking around til the final chapter.
> 
> Maybe I'll do a sequel of this someday (I want to explore what Bobo is up to in this universe), but for now, I'm gonna start a sequel to Alpha's Forfeit. :D
> 
> Please let me know what you think in the comments!

“He really is perfect, isn’t he?” Nicole said, staring down at her son. He was cradled safely in her arms, a warm bundle that filled her heart with an equally warm glow.

Waverly leaned back into the nest of pillows she’d made on their bed. “That’s the fifth time you’ve told me in the past few minutes.”

Nicole stuck out her lower lip. “Well, he is.” She crooked a finger near the baby’s face, letting him grip it in his chubby fist. For such a tiny thing, he was surprisingly strong.  _ “Look  _ at him.”

“I’m looking,” Waverly laughed.

Nicole might have been embarrassed, if she didn’t know her weyrmate spent long stretches of time simply staring at little Julian as well. Besides, she just couldn’t help being captivated by his squishy, scrunched-up face. He rarely opened his eyes, but he had already stolen Nicole’s heart.

Waverly’s too, it seemed. “Give him here,” she pleaded, holding out her arms.

Nicole clutched Julian closer. “You still need to eat your lunch.” She nodded at the plate of food beside Waverly’s bed, which sat there forgotten.

With an air of reluctance, Waverly put the plate on her lap and started shoveling food in her mouth, followed by a long gulp of water. Nursing a newborn left her constantly thirsty, and Nicole had gotten into the habit of making sure there was always water on her bedside table.

“It’s not a race, Waves.”

Waverly narrowed her eyes, continuing to wolf down her meal. Obviously, she was prepared to look a little foolish if it meant reclaiming their son sooner.

Nicole decided to make the most of her time. “I can’t wait to find out who you’re going to be,” she cooed, swaying Julian back and forth. “Will you be a dragonrider, or something else? What’s your favorite Harper song going to be? What will your smile look like?”

“We’ll have to wait and find out.” Waverly wiped her hands on the serving cloth, making grabbing motions again. “Nicole, please?”

Nicole heaved a sigh. “Your mother is  _ very _ demanding,” she said, depositing Julian in Waverly’s arms.

“You like me that way.” Waverly held the baby close to her chest, stroking the fine tuft of hair on the crown of his head. It glowed red in the low afternoon light, and though it was too early to predict what he’d look like when he was older, Nicole could see bits of herself in him — and bits of Waverly, too, which made her love him all the more.

“He takes after you,” she said, looking fondly at her weyrmate.

Waverly kissed Julian’s head. “I was just thinking he looks more like you.”

_ ‘Nicole!’ _

Calamith’s urgent voice startled Nicole out of her fuzzy contentment. She’d been considering asking Waverly if they could all take a nap together, but from the sudden flutter in her stomach and rapid beating of her heart, she knew that wouldn’t happen any time soon.

_ ‘What’s wrong?’  _ She concentrated on Calamith’s emotions, sensing nervousness, restlessness, but also… excitement?

_ ‘Tiath says it’s time.’ _

A huge smile broke across Nicole’s face. She looked at Waverly, whose eyes had already widened with understanding. Obviously, Tiath had informed her as well.

Nicole hurried across the room. “Here, let me get your gown. No, don’t get up — wait for me to help.” She assisted Waverly out of bed with a steadying hand, then reclaimed the baby so Waverly could put on her dressing gown. Once she was clothed, she put on her shoes as well, ignoring the way Nicole fussed.

“It’s been two weeks since I gave birth. I can bend over again.”

“I know,” Nicole said. “I just don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

“Trust me. You’ll know when I do.”

They strode down the hall as quickly as possible. Nicole considered it lucky that the junior weyrwoman’s quarters were situated in the lowest level of Purgatory for this exact reason: easy access to the hatching grounds.

_ ‘Hurry,’ _ Calamith said, with increased urgency.

_ ‘I’m coming, my love. Be patient.’ _

_ ‘She can’t wait much longer.’ _

Nicole stepped onto the hatching sands just as Tiath let out a mighty roar. She stopped short, her heart in her throat. Tiath hunched in the middle of the sands, proud back arched, wedge-shaped head raised to the sky.

All around her, other dragons watched, peeking out of their weyrs and perching as close as they dared. Calamith and Peseth had the best view — Tiath had actually allowed them to creep to the edge of the sand.

A low hum filled the air, soft at first, but growing steadily louder. It came from the dragons, a deep bass lullaby that alerted the rest of the weyr. Dragonriders and weyrfolk began to arrive, hurrying to see the beginning of the spectacle.

Tiath screeched, and an egg slid onto the sand beneath her, a large and shiny thing with an obvious bronze color. Cheers came from the people standing around the sands, and the dragons’ hum grew louder. 

Nicole sniffed back tears, holding her son with one arm and folding the other around Waverly’s shoulders. Finally,  _ finally, _ Tiath and Calamith would have the clutch they had so longed for.

_ ‘A bronze egg! I’m so proud of you both, my love.’ _

_ ‘You should be,’ _ Calamith crooned. Meanwhile, Tiath fussed over the egg, giving it a good sniff and turning it over in the hot sands.

“Hey, babygirl. Nicole. Looks like Tiath’s off to a nice start.”

Nicole turned to see Wynonna trotting toward them, followed by X’vier and J’hon. X’vier held Alice on his hip, and he wore a big smile. “Looks like it.”

J’hon tipped his riding cap in Waverly’s direction, and his mustache twitched with a smile as well. “So it would seem. A bronze egg to start is always good luck.”

Nicole chewed her lip. Not every clutch produced queen eggs, but secretly, she hoped Tiath’s first would. They could use another junior weyrwoman besides Waverly at Purgatory, and… well, Calamith’s pride was on the line. After everything they’d been through, it only seemed fair they should get a queen egg out of it.

_ Don’t think that way, _ she scolded herself, keeping her thoughts a secret from her dragon.  _ It’s enough that Tiath’s clutching. This is wonderful, even if there’s no queen this time. _

More eggs followed: several greens and blues, interspersed with a few healthy browns. Tiath nosed each in turn, rolling them into a pile, covering them in a suitable amount of sand to keep them nice and warm.

“They’re so beautiful,” Nicole murmured as a second bronze egg appeared on the sand.

Waverly noticed she was tearful, and placed a concerned hand on her arm. “Happy tears, I hope?”

“I’m fine. It just reminds me of when Calamith first hatched.”

“I know.” From the distant look on Waverly’s face, Nicole could tell she was remembering, too.

Several hours passed, but to Nicole, they felt like mere minutes. Despite the beating sun, she wasn’t at all tired, and neither was Waverly, although Nicole inquired several times whether she wanted to sit or find some shade. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, could make me miss this,” Waverly said, after the fifth time Nicole asked.

“I just want to make sure you don’t push yourself…”

Waverly stared her dead in the eye. “We almost died for this clutch. I’m seeing this through.”

Nicole sighed with resignation. She could understand where Waverly was coming from. Whenever a new egg was laid, her chest puffed up with pride. Surely, each and every one of these dragonets would hatch and grow into the finest beasts on all of Pern…

“Wait,” Wynonna said, squinting and cupping a hand over her eyes. “What color is she laying now?”

Nicole craned her neck to see. At first, it looked like it might be another bronze egg, but as it dropped onto the sands, the glint of gold was unmistakable. 

“A queen egg!”

One voice said it first, but the cry passed around the ring of weyrfolk, until it was more like a chant. “A queen egg! A queen egg!” A loud cheer rose from all the spectators, and the dragon hum swelled into a glorious crescendo.

Nicole pulled Waverly into her arms, hugging her as tight as possible without squishing Julian between them. He fussed a bit, then lapsed back into sleep, while Waverly sobbed into Nicole’s shoulder.

“She did it,” her weyrmate said through happy sniffles.

“She did,” Nicole said. From over Waverly’s head, she spotted Calamith launching himself off the ground, wide wings outstretched. The overjoyed bronze took flight, doing a series of celebratory acrobatics over the hatching sands. 

Tiath, for her part, hardly seemed to notice her mate’s impressive spins and flips. She was entirely focused on the enormous golden egg, which she placed in the middle of all the others, where she could guard it most closely.

Waverly left Nicole’s embrace, just in time for Wynonna to pull her into another bone-crushing hug. “Oof, too tight!” Waverly said, though she returned it anyway.

Eventually, Wynonna let go. “Get out there,” she said, giving Waverly an encouraging shove.

When Waverly looked to her, Nicole nodded in encouragement. Then she was off, racing across the hatching sands to see her dragon. Tiath recoiled at first, but quickly calmed when she realized who her visitor was, allowing her rider to come see her treasured brood.

“How much you wanna bet she’s the only one Tiath lets on the sands the first few days?” Wynonna asked.

X’vier chuckled. “I don’t take bets I know I’ll lose.”

“It is only natural,” J’hon said. “But I must admit, even from this distance, I can see this is a fine and healthy clutch. They are quite beautiful.”

“They are,” Nicole agreed. She felt higher than the red star itself, and when Calamith came in for a landing, she handed Julian to Wynonna and rushed over, ready to reward him with scratches and pets.

_ ‘Did you see?’ _ the bronze asked, vibrating with energy.  _ ‘A queen egg!’ _

“I saw, you silly beast. Tiath has done well. And you, of course.”

_ ‘Mostly Tiath,’ _ Calamith said, but Nicole could tell he was preening nonetheless.

They both turned, watching from a distance as Waverly rested her hands on the golden egg. Tiath had relaxed, apparently done laying for the moment, and coiled around her brood, iridescent eyes shining a tender purple.

“They’re beautiful,” Nicole whispered.

_ ‘Yes,’ _ Calamith agreed.  _ ‘They are.’ _

***

Waverly glanced over her shoulder in the darkened hallway, hyper-aware of how her footsteps echoed in the confined space. They sounded unnaturally loud, but she couldn’t hear or see any signs that she was being followed. She’d left her weyrmate and baby asleep in their room, and she hoped they’d stay that way. This was a journey she needed to make alone.

She took the stairs on tiptoe, glad they were made of stone rather than wood. There was no one around to hear any creaking, but she couldn’t be too careful. No one would be happy if they knew where she was headed. In fact, they had discouraged her from this at every turn.

After another harrowing minute, Waverly arrived at the infirmary. Wynonna had wanted to place Willa in some kind of cell, but Purgatory didn’t have one. Most major crimes were punished by banishment to the wild southern continent, while minor infractions meant demotions and extra work duties. Eventually, the infirmary had been chosen to house their unusual prisoner. Due to the loss of her dragon, Willa was rarely cognisant enough to care for herself anyway.

_ But I have to see her. There are things I need to say, even if she can’t hear or understand. _

Waverly fumbled in the pocket of her nightgown, withdrawing the key she’d stolen from Wynonna earlier that day. Although she rarely took things that weren’t hers, she’d learned a thing or two simply by watching her sister, back during Wynonna’s more rebellious phase. (And even in the present, if Waverly was being honest in her assessment.)

She fitted the key in the lock and opened the door.

Willa lay on a narrow cot, stretched on top of the covers. Her eyes were open wide, but she didn’t gaze out the window that overlooked the weyr. She stared at the empty ceiling, blinking only rarely, her face utterly blank.

Waverly sat in the empty wooden chair beside the bed. “Willa?”

Willa gave no response.

“Tiath laid her clutch today. The one you tried so hard to keep from existing.”

Silence.

“There were thirty four in all. A queen egg, too.”

She paused, waiting for… she wasn’t sure what, but Willa remained mute as a stone.

“I had my son two weeks ago. His name is Julian, and I already love him so much. You see, Willa… even though you were my sister, you always tried to make me feel like I wasn’t part of anyone’s family. Now I know you’re wrong. Wynonna kept me going when I was a weyrbrat, and she still does. But I also have Tiath, Nicole, and Julian. And I have X’vier, J’hon, and this new clutch of eggs, too. Despite everything you’ve said and done, I have a huge family that’s full of love. I guess some part of me needed for you to know that.”

She sighed. It felt good to say it aloud, even though Willa obviously wasn’t listening.

“I’m loved, Willa. And by the way, your plan to use the love between me and Wynonna to wound her before re-taking Purgatory was  _ really _ stupid. You should’ve realized love would only make all of us fight harder.”

As quickly as it had come, Waverly’s spurt of anger faded. She had every reason in the world to hate her eldest sister, but seeing her here, a shadow of her former self, unable to hold a conversation, almost made her feel sad. The loss of a dragon was something most weyrfolk wouldn’t wish on their worst enemy, and now, she understood why.

“I’m going now. I don’t think you have anything left to teach me. And… I’m sorry about Swaneth, even though it was your own fault. I loved her, too.”

Waverly left the chair and headed for the door. Before she re-entered the hall, she stole one last glance at Willa. She lay there like a corpse, the slow rise and fall of her chest the only sign of life left in her. It was a difficult sight to look at, so Waverly didn’t linger. She slipped through the doorway, only to bump into another shadowy figure.

“Wynonna?!”

Waverly dropped the key in surprise, and Wynonna bent to pick it up. “You seriously didn’t think I’d notice this was missing?” she said, wagging it near Waverly’s face. “I’m surprised at you, picking the weyrwoman’s pocket.”

“Because I didn’t want to have  _ this _ conversation,” Waverly grumbled. She took the key from Wynonna and locked the door before surrendering it once more.

Wynonna put the key into the pocket of her riding trousers. “What conversation?”

“The one where you tell me it’s too dangerous to be here.”

“With her?” Wynonna scoffed. “She’s basically a vegetable. Besides, I know you can handle yourself.”

“What about emotionally dangerous? Didn’t you think about that?”

“I think,” Wynonna said, choosing her words carefully, “that it’s about time I loosen the reins a bit. You  _ are _ Purgatory’s junior weyrwoman, after all, and your dragon just laid her first clutch. I can’t tell you what to do every minute of every day anymore.”

Waverly blinked. Of all the responses Wynonna could have given, this was the one she’d least expected. “Really?”

“C’mere.” Wynonna pulled Waverly into a hug, kissing the middle of her forehead. “You’ll always be my little sister, but I  _ might _ have been a rotten egg about some things. And if seeing Willa was what you needed to do, well… I can’t stop you. Did you get what you needed?”

Waverly smiled. “I think I did.”

“Good. Then you should get some rest. You had an exhausting day, and I’m sure Nicole misses you.”

“Yeah she does,” Waverly said with a suggestive smirk.

“Ew. Get out of here.” Wynonna gave her a gentle shove. “And try to  _ sleep, _ all right?”

Waverly threw her arms around Wynonna’s neck and kissed her cheek, then departed, scurrying down the hall and back toward her weyr. She arrived to find Nicole and Julian just as she’d left them, fast asleep. Julian drooled on the blanket in his crib, while Nicole snored loudly.

Instantly, Waverly’s heart filled with warmth. She’d meant every word she’d said to Willa. This was her family now, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“Waves?” Nicole’s snoring stopped, and she flung an arm to the empty side of the bed before cracking open her eyes. “What’re you doing out of bed? Do you need anything?”

Before Nicole could get up, Waverly slipped off her gown and climbed back under the covers, snuggling up next to her weyrmate’s warm body. “No. Just you.”


End file.
